What's happening now?
by aka Misguided Ghost
Summary: SEQUEL to "What just happened?": Rose and Scorpius are finally together and disgustingly happy, but of course, good things never last and trouble always seems to find these families.
1. I'm magic

**AN: Before you start reading, this is a sequel to my previous story, "What just happened?" which I recommend reading first!**

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**I'm magic**

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**POV: Rose**

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"Rose, we're going out darling," called my mother from downstairs.

I shot up from my bed in surprise and ran out to the landing,

"Where are you going?" I said, leaning over the banister.

"Just Diagon Alley, we're out of floo powder and a few other bits and bobs, we won't be long, only an hour or two," she smiled.

I smiled back joyfully, "Ok!" and waited anxiously for the telltale pop of their apparition. I then dug into my pocket, retrieving a small circular mirror, about the size of my palm.

"Scorpius," I yelled at the mirror.

Eventually a pale face appeared within the plastic green casing, "Hello?"

"Finally! Do you want to come over to mine?" I said excitedly.

"Is that, 'Do you want to come over to mine because my father has finally decided to forgive me for having a Death Eater family, wants us to be together, get married and call him Daddy?"

"No… but I do have the house to myself for a couple of hours."

There was loud pop followed by quick knocking on my front door.

Thank god one of us was seventeen and can apparate, I thought as I raced down the stairs, tore open the door and flung myself at him.

We were two weeks into the summer holidays, and had not seen each other since we'd said our sickenly sweet goodbyes on platform 9 and ¾. We really were quite disgustingly happy, I actually judged myself for it. Though to compensate in my mind, I had started a few arguments over our two months together. The best so far had been when I told him he was performing his wand motions in "_Wingardium Leviosa_" wrong. He actually ended up storming out. But we made up passionately after. Oh god, I'm a hideous member of a happy couple. I should be ostracized immediately.

We kissed fervently on the doorstep for about five minutes before I finally pulled apart and led him upstairs. Closing the door behind us we fell to the bed, beginning to lose ourselves in our teenage passion, until something sent chills up my spine and a block of lead to my stomach.

The front door slamming.

We both jumped up in horror, hissing expletives under our breath as my Dad yelled "_Rose!_" rushing up the stairs two at a time by the sound of it.

"_Ronald_!" yelled my mother angrily from the front door.

In desperation, I shoved Scorpius into my wardrobe and rushed back to sit on my bed, just as Dad flung open the door.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"Who?" I said, picking up a magazine and casually flipping through it.

"Seriously Rose," said my Dad, "Really. Are we _really_ going to do this? …_I'm magic_."

I stared at him petulantly.

He sighed "_Homenum Revlio_," paused a second, went to my wardrobe, and opened the door.

"Hello Mr Weasley," said Scorpius.

"Get out."

"Goodbye Mr Weasley," and he scrambled for the door as quickly as he could.

Coward.

I stood up, slammed the magazine down on my desk and stared at my father angrily.

I suppose I was emanating my mother, because he did shy away ever so slightly.

"Goodbye Mrs Weasley," I heard Scorpius say as he passed my mother downstairs.

"Goodbye Scorpius dear, sorry about Ron…" and I heard the front door close.

"_What did I say Rose_?" hissed my father, folding his arms across his chest and staring at me.

"I'm a narrow minded git who wouldn't know a truly good person if they punched him in the face?" I said, folding my arms too.

He stared at me in outrage, opening his mouth to chastise me, but I interrupted him.

"How did you know he was here," I said sharply.

He stopped, tongue tied.

"Yes Ronald," said my mother, appearing behind him, "How did you know?"

"Well I…"

"_How_, Dad?"

"I may have set up a charm… or two."

"Oh for g_od's_ sake Dad. What is it going to take for you to trust him? Maybe he should what, stand up for me? No wait, he already did that, I don't know, risk his life to save me? No, did that too, that's clearly not good enough, why don't you bounce some ideas around Dad, or you know what, better yet, just get out."

"Now Rose, I…"

"Please, Dad. Just go. I've heard it all," I said sadly, turning my back on him and sitting on my bed, gazing forlornly out of my window.

"Rosie I…"

"Please…" I said quietly, injected a small sob into my voice.

I heard him hesitate, and then shuffle slowly out ashamedly. He should be feeling plenty guilty now.

I got up and closed my door, laying back down heavily on the bed and pulling out my concealed two-way mirror. They were now standard issue from Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's, available in a range of shapes and colours. They were easy to conceal and had an anti-summoning charms on them, so despite being banned from Hogwarts they were in common use, and my Dad had failed to confiscate mine yet as he already had my mobile phone and eagle owl Horus.

I waited a long time for Scorpius to appear. I was beginning to worry that he was angry until suddenly his face popped into the circle,

"Scorpius I'm so sorry, I…"

"I just had some news."

"Oh, sorry, what's happened?"

"Apparently my grandfather is dying…"

I raised my eyebrows in shock, "You don't mean…?"

"Yes, I mean Lucius Malfoy. He wants to meet me."

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: Ok... so forgive me, this was a little bit teenagery... but I thought it nice to start light-hearted! Please review, and why don't you let me know what kind of stuff you'd like to see in the sequel? **


	2. The Potters

**The Potters**

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**POV: Scorpius**

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I apparated back into my room feeling deflated and uncomfortable. Rose's father had made his feelings about our relationship clear from the beginning, and to be honest after the things my family had done, I didn't really blame him. But I couldn't help but linger on Mr Potter's reaction when it was his daughter I was dating. He had shaken my hand and joked with me, had always treated me like an individual and not a Malfoy, ever since I first became friends with Al. I kicked the leg of my bed in frustration and began to consider the merits of changing my name. But my name was so god awful I'd have to change the whole thing, and that seemed like too much effort.

"Scorpius?" called my mother from downstairs,

"Yes?" I half sighed, half shouted back.

"Could you come down here please? Your Dad and I need to talk to you."

I sighed loudly and heaved myself off the bed, making my way downstairs, finding them sat at the kitchen table, waiting.

I sat down and looked at my father expectantly.

"I received an owl today, from my mother."

I raised my eyebrows, genuinely shocked.

"It seems my… _father_… is dying."

I leant back in my chair in surprise.

"The thing is…" started my father.

"He wants to meet you, Scorp," interrupted my mother sharply.

I looked from one parent to the other, trying to register their reactions. My mother looked tense and irritated, and my father just plain uncomfortable.

I knew that he had continued a terse and distant relationship with his parents after the war, but quickly moved out when he decided to pursue a career in Healing. I always assumed it was a way to atone, and it must have worked because that's where he met my mother, a fellow healer. My father eventually, tentatively introduced her to my grandparents, who condemned her as "ridiculous" and as far as I knew they hadn't spoken since.

"What do you think Scorp," said my mother slowly, eyeing me carefully.

Of course, I should refuse. That's what she was hoping for. But I had to admit, it peeked my curiosity. Having forgiven my father and taken note of how he has tried to change, it intrigued me to see what Lucius Malfoy had done with his life.

"Can I think about it?" I ventured quietly.

"Of course," my mother said briskly, standing up and busying herself.

I felt a twinge of guilt and turned to my father, "Are you going to see him?"

He sat there a long moment, simply staring at me thoughtfully before he said, "Perhaps."

I nodded and stood, heading back upstairs.

I sat on my bed for a while, trying to decide. In the end I knew I just needed to talk to Rose, so I fished the mirror from my pocket.

"Scorpius I'm so sorry, I…" Rose began, but I interrupted her.

"I just had some news."

She looked taken aback "Oh, sorry, what's happened?"

I took a deep breath, unsure how to phrase it, but decided to be blunt.

"Apparently my grandfather is dying…"

I saw her raise her eyebrows in shock, just as I had, "You don't mean…?" she started, but I didn't want to beat around the bush,

"Yes, I mean Lucius Malfoy. He wants to meet me."

Rose was subdued into a stunned silence for a long minute until she finally asked, "Do you want to meet him?"

"I… I don't know," I said, slightly ashamed, "I'm… curious, to see if he's… remorseful I suppose."

Rose nodded before saying, "I think you should go."

"You think?"

"Well if you meet him and he turns out to be… _a tool_, well, then you can put it behind you. But if you didn't meet him, I know you'd regret not giving him a chance… even if he doesn't deserve it," she added.

I smiled, "How is it you know me so well Rose Weasley?"

"Um, try because I'm the bestest most super, mega… foxy, awesome… _hot_ girlfriend in the entire world?" she smiled.

"Damn straight," I laughed, "so what happened with your Dad after I left?"

"I called him a narrow-minded git and gave him the guilt trip."

"The guilt trip?" I queried.

"What? I didn't say that, I don't do that…" she trailed off vaguely.

I laughed again, "Damn I miss you Rose, I need to see you, properly."

"I know," she sighed.

"Maybe we can run away together?"

"Yeah, my father hunts dark wizards for a living…"

"Do a Romeo and Juliet?"

She laughed, "Or we both go to the Potters this afternoon?"

"Well personally I think my idea made more sense, but I guess we can try yours."

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The idea of an afternoon at the Potters cheered me up greatly as I walked down their garden path. They'd been on holiday since the beginning of the summer, and I was beginning to miss Al's humour, but Lily was the one to answer the door.

"Oh… hi, Lily," I coughed awkwardly.

"Scorpius," she said blushing and looking down, "Al's in the… uh… garden," then she gave a brief, eye-contactless smile and slowly closed the door.

I headed round the side of the house now feeling painfully discomfited, to find Albus and his brother James lounging around in shorts, sun-bathing.

"Malloy," James grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. This name had been his way of goading me when I was younger, which, I'm ashamed to say had worked like a charm. Now I found it amusing. I smiled back opening my mouth to speak when I tilted my head at Albus, who I now realised was dozing. So I of course flicked out my wand and shot a jet of cold water at him.

"Jesus!" he said, springing up in horror, he then punched me hard in the arm whilst James and I laughed, "jackassses," he grumbled, wiping himself down.

"How was France?" I asked, pulling my t-shirt off and joining them on the sun-drenched grass.

"Alright," said Al as James said, "Crap."

"Good," I replied, smiling as I lay down with my hands behind my head.

We didn't speak any further, it was too hot to think, but when the back door opened I shot up, smiling when I saw Rose smiling back, and scrambled over to her. I saw her widen her eyes at my bare chest and I grinned, slipping my arms round her waist and catching her mouth with mine as I heard groans emanate from behind me, but I was more interested in the longing sigh that Rose was making. We kissed eagerly and she sent chills down my back by running her hands down my chest and then round to my back, which tickled so I had to break the kiss with a snigger.

"Seriously Malloy, that's basically my sister you're making out with in front of me, don't make me curse you," drawled James lazily.

I smiled, staring at Rose and running my hand down her cheek lightly, brushing a few curls behind her ear and kissing her softly. I desperately wanted to be alone with her, but we had nowhere to escape to, so we ended up returning to the occupied spot of grass.

Rose leaned back on her arms and tilted her face into the sun, "Did you tell them?" she said.

"Tell us what?" Al stared at me with interest.

I sighed, "Lucius Malfoy is dying and wants to meet me."

"You're not going to, are you?" said James, suddenly angry.

I tensed a little, "I don't know…" I mumbled.

He glared at me, then got to his feet and went into the house without another word. I snuck a tentative look at Al, now worried about his reaction.

"Curious to see if he feels bad?" said Al, his eyes still closed as he relaxed in the sun.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, "Yes."

"Ok. But if he turns out to be a tool, punch him in the face for me, or cruciatus his ass or something," and then both he and Rose tensed, "Sorry… Rose," he said remorsefully, "I didn't mean…"

"It's ok," she said quietly, and I leaned over and pulled her toward me, kissing the top of her head as she rested it on my shoulder.

"Want me to punish him?" I asked, and she nodded sadly, so I whipped out my wand and blasted him with water again. I followed him around the garden as he let out girlish screams trying to escape, finding it highly amusing that he couldn't fight back because he was still sixteen.

Then I turned it on Rose and we spent the next couple of hours as blissfully ignorant and immature teenagers.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: Aah more blissful teenageryness. Sorry for (in my speed terms) the time it took for me to get this up, I'm on a little bit of a writing burn out from, as one reviewer pointed out "posting 15 chapters in under a month!" she called me her hero, hear that guys? I'm a hero :) I'll try and start churning it out again but I think it's coming out a little bit rushed so! Please review! (especially any Starkids...)  
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	3. You're a good man, Scorpius

**You're a good man Scorp.**

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**POV: Scorpius**

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My father and I stood for awhile, gaping up at the rising majesty of Malfoy Manor, I in awe and my father in bitter nostalgia. Eventually he turned to look at me gravely and I nodded at him in encouragement, beginning to walk toward the menacing wrought iron gates.

"I see they didn't replace the peacocks," my father smirked as he surveyed the impressive gardens and I raised my eyebrows in further awe at the incredible wealth my father grew up with

When we finally reached the magnificent polished black door, I waited nervously for my father to pull the bell, which rang ominously, echoing around the cavernous rooms within. Eventually we heard movements from behind and it was slowly pulled open, revealing a tall, slim woman, with blonde hair curled tightly into a knot at the back of her head. Her eyes were dark and heavy, and a few strands of wispy platinum hair hung limply round her harsh but attractive face. She looked tired and strained, but a small smile managed to briefly twitch the side of her mouth.

"Draco," she breathed, clutching the door with one hand.

"Mother," he nodded curtly, averting his eyes, which caused her attention to move to me.

"And you're Scorpius," she said breathily, moving out from the doorway and stepping toward me with a mixed look of euphoria and anxiety.

"Where is he," my father said suddenly.

She looked taken aback, "In the drawing room... resting," she straightened her jacket and smoothed her hair down, "come, I'll take you to him," she turned back into the house. I glanced over uncertainly at my father who was staring up at the house, then pursued as he followed his mother purposefully inside.

The foyer was decked with magnificent portraits of increasingly sneering and pompous men, my ancestors, I assumed. They each stared at me with scrutiny as I passed, some joining their neighbours to whisper and converse about the return of the prodigal son, and his offspring. We followed Narcissa into a room to the right, with purple walls and a large chandelier that dominated the room. My gaze was drawn towards the fire which crackled threateningly within its marble setting, and upon the mantle sat a large, stuffed black crow. I eyed it curiously and jumped when it looked at me suddenly, with beady, un-blinking and very alive eyes. A small, throaty chuckle sounded, and I turned my attention to the uncomfortable looking wing backed chair sat beside the fire, in which sat a small and withered man. His face was ghostly pale and his head clean shaved of hair. He watched me with interest, then turned his gaze to my father, who tensed, making the dying man smile. He gestured to the second fireside chair and my father moved irritably to sit within it.

I hovered awkwardly, unsure of where to sit and unable with my polite upbringing to seat myself without permission. I decided to walk over and hover behind my father's chair, who now seeing my predicament glared at his parents for their lack of hospitality, sighed and conjured a chair with a flick of his wand for me to sit beside him. I slid into it gratefully.

"He looks very like you," said Lucius after an age of awkward stares.

"Yes. He can talk, too," my father said pointedly.

"Of course. So, Scorpius, you're at Hogwarts?" he croaked.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Year?"

"This will be my final, sir." He surveyed me with interest.

"Head Boy?" he wondered.

"No sir, prefect neither," he looked displeased, "Though I did receive the position of Quidditch Captain," I added hastily, unsure of why I felt the need to impress him.

His face brightened, "Indeed? Well, I hope to hear of your coaching the Slytherin team to victory, they've been poorly managed for a while now."

I shifted uncomfortably, looking to my father for guidance.

"Actually, my son is a Gryffindor," he said tersely.

Lucius closed his eyes and visibly tensed before saying, "Well there's a long tradition down the drain. _The wife's_ influence no doubt," he added quietly.

"_Astoria_," my father said loudly, "was in Hufflepuff. Scorpius is his own man," he said almost proudly.

Lucius gave a sneering one sided smile, "I apologise."

My father shifted uncomfortably, glancing around the room irritably.

"I hear you're moving swiftly up the heirarchy of St Mungo's Draco? If you wish I could help the process, make a donation?"

"No." My father's jaw twitched and hardened.

Lucius eyed him scornfully, "and you, Scorpius, will you follow your father's footsteps?"

"Uh, no, Sir. I have plans to become an Auror, in fact I'll soon be attending a two week summer internship at the Auror office, with Al... a friend," I corrected myself quickly.

"Hmm..." Lucius said, linking his fingers, "You'll be excited to meet the great Harry Potter then I suppose?"

I glanced again at my father in discomfort, I felt it best to come clean, "Actually sir I've already met him. Many times in fact. His son, Albus, you see, is my friend. Best friend," I mumbled.

Lucius raised his eyebrows at me, "Good lord. It seems your looks are where the similarities end, Draco," he laughed.

My father shifted aggressively in his seat, staring intently at the floor, body tensed, hands gripping the arms of his chair tightly.

"You look uncomfortable in your own home, Draco," Lucius drawled.

My father stared at Lucius coldly, leaving a long pause in which he seemed to choose his words carefully.

"The word _home_, father," my father said icily, "Holds connotations of happiness, and _safety_. _Happiness_, I have never felt, and it's safety was lost when you allowed it to be invaded by the _Darkest Wizard of all time_."

"Now Draco..." Lucius began.

"And it certainly ceased to be a_ home_," he continued venomously, "after I had to watch the needless _murder_ of a defenseless woman on our _dining room table_, then her _devouring by a gigantic snake_," he ended, shaking with years of anger.

For once, Lucius said nothing, and allowed a glimmer of remorse to flicker across his face. It may have been subtle, but I caught it.

"Draco," Narcissa tried.

"Or how about this," he began again, "watching my dear old aunt _torture_ Hermione Granger in this very room?" He glanced around him in painful recollection before fixing his stare back on his father, "You know it's very difficult to make small talk with the mother of your son's girlfriend when you've watched impotently the most traumatic event of their lives," he finished abruptly.

The silence left was painfully poignant.

"Let's go, Scorpius, this was a mistake," my father barked, roughly standing.

"Draco…" Narcissa, stood desperately.

"_No_," he said, sharply holding out a hand to stop her before heading for the door.

"Goodbye father," he said carefully as he left, without glancing back.

I sat for a moment, frozen in shock at his outburst before I stood and followed quickly, stopping when I heard a voice call after me.

"Will you come back?"

I turned back to look at the frail man uncertainly, who stared back with convincingly remorseful eyes. I small sob broke the silence, and I looked over at Narcissa, who had her back turned to look out the window, crying quietly into her silk handkerchief.

"Perhaps," I said ashamedly, and I turned and left, catching up to my father in the disapproving foyer.

"Are you ok?" I said quietly, falling into step with him.

"No," he replied simply, and then he turned to me in the doorstep and grabbed me by the shoulders, "Was I good father to you?" he said urgently.

"Y-yeah, Dad, of course, I was the problem in our relationship…"

He squeezed my arms gently and straightened, then he put his arm round my shoulder and guided me out of his childhood, "You're a good man, Scorpius. I'm proud of that," he said tersely, not making eye contact as he turned on the spot and apparated us away.

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"Pet crows, family portraits and scary manor houses? It's like they've stepped straight out of a gothic novel," Rose laughed as I relayed my afternoon to her across our mirrors. "Are you really going to go back?" she said.

I thought carefully about that "Yes, I think I am. Not for Lucius but for my… _grandmother_. It's just... she'll be alone, when he dies, and she's going to need someone."

She smiled at me, starry eyed, "You're incredible."

I sighed dramatically "I know… it's a burden being so, smart, sweet, handsome and witty but... I try."

She laughed, "Well, I have something surprising to ask you," she said ominously.

"Ok," I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What are you doing this evening?"

"Please tell me it involves spending time with my beautiful girlfriend, in fact I should give her a call I haven't spoken to her all day…"

"Oh ha ha," she rolled her eyes, then took a deep breath, "My mother has invited you to dinner tonight."

I stared at her, "Oh good, an afternoon of discomfort followed by an evening of inevitable bodily harm."

She rolled her eyes, "My Dad would never hurt you, Scorp… not _physically_ at least," she added.

I raised my eyebrows at her, "Okay maybe he would. But it would have to be over something really bad, like, catching us in bed together or something," she laughed nervously at the idea.

I cocked my head to the side, "That would be very bad," I agreed, "but _so_ worth it," I added.

Rose blushed fiercely and dropped her gaze, "Um, be here at six?" she said, suddenly intensely interested in something on her bedroom wall.

"Six," I smiled, dropping the mirror as she disappeared and stretched out thoughtfully on my bed.

What I wouldn't give for even five minutes alone with Rose Weasley.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: Huge apologies for not updating in so long! The reason being is that between work and college, I didn't have a day off from the 29th November (the day after I finished the last story) til the 25th of December! Then I had a crazy Christmas with my large family (there were 14 of us in the house at one point). I've literally been trying to write this relatively small chapter ever since I published the last, but have had to keep stopping for some reason or another! Also I've been giving the entire story line some careful thought... so, hopefully I'll be able to get the ball rolling a little more now, but I probably won't update as quickly as with the last. I just read back over my last story and did it in about half an hour and realised how quick and short it was! It seemed so long and well-developed when I wrote it! I've decided when I have the time and energy I'll rewrite it one day. Rambling now, please review! **


	4. What the hell Malfoy

**What the hell Malfoy**

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**POV: Scorpius**

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"Thank you, Sir," I said awkwardly as Mr Weasley passed me a plate. He'd looked tense and hostile ever since I walked through the door, thirty uncomfortable minutes ago. Hermione looked extremely anxious, seemingly ready to jump in as soon as things went south, and Hugo looked like he'd won ring-side tickets.

"You don't need to call him _Sir_, Scor," said Rose sharply, folding her napkin over her lap.

Ron sniggered, "_Scor_," under his breath.

"What was that _Won Won_?" Rose shot at him, and he sent a murderous glare at Hermione, who tensed.

I shrank in discomfort, then began scanning the table for salt as a distraction, but of course…

"Um, Mr Weasley, could you please pass the uh, salt, Si…" I trailed off feeling Rose glare.

Mr Weasley eyed Rose carefully, picking up the salt and slowly passing it toward me, but just as I reached out to take it, he took it back saying, "Pass the salt… _what_?" with a glint in his eye.

"S-sir?" I ventured, hand paused midair and stomach clenched.

"That's right," he grinned at Rose, passing the salt with satisfaction.

She slammed down her knife and fork in annoyance making me jump and Ron grin even more smugly.

We all began to eat quietly in the awkward silence that was left.

"You know who I saw the other day?" Mr Weasley said, "Reilly Wood."

Both Hermione and Rose slammed down their forks this time, and Hermione stood up angrily, grabbed Ron's plate of food, and stormed off into the kitchen with it, "You don't get to eat Ronald!"

"'_Mione_," he cried, following her into the kitchen in outrage.

We could hear their stifled argument for a moment until the kitchen door slammed magically shut , and Hugo collapsed into sniggers.

"So," I said, cutting the meat on my plate, "exits signs… they're on the way out."

Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes at me, and Hugo broke into further laughter.

We had started to eat again when the door wrenched back open, and Hermione appeared with a smile plastered on her face and hair looking slightly manic. She briefly smoothed it as she sat down and continued to eat, followed shortly by a miserable looking Mr Weasley who sat down and folded his arms childishly.

The meal continued more comfortably then as Hermione took control of the conversation, and Mr Weasley sat mutely to the side until we'd finished.

"Oh hey Dad," Hugo said, "Did you catch the Quidditch scores?"

Mr Weasley opened his mouth to reply, then shut it angrily.

"Dad?" Hugo furrowed his eyebrows.

"There's no point Hugo," Hermione said, whipping out her wand and causing the plates to float up and pile themselves into the sink, "I put a silencing charm on him," she blushed, following the plates out of the room.

Rose and I looked at each other, then to Mr Weasley, and then collapsed into laughter as he scowled at us, causing him to storm into the other room, where he turned the TV up high to block us out.

"Did you need any help, Mrs Weasley?" I offered as she re-entered.

"No thank you Scorpius, but very sweet of you to offer," she smiled kindly and I felt immensely glad that she was on my side.

"C'mon," Rose said, taking up my hand, but then to my horror, she led me into the front room, where her father sat menacingly with a glass of firewhiskey in one hand, and his wand in the other. I gulped and stood like an idiot to the side as Rose rifled through a cupboard, and produced a wizard chess set, which she then proceeded to set up on the floor. I felt myself bristle with annoyance, knowing full well that she was only doing this to irritate her father, with no regard to my discomfort. But what choice did I have? I settled myself onto the floor, back to Mr Weasley, and began the game.

The tension within the room was palpable, and I was relived when Hugo came to join our game and Hermione sat next to Mr Weasley, subtly relieving him of his wand. Feeling slightly happier we got the game underway, but each time I made a bad move, which was often, a snigger or demoralising groan would sound from behind me. With each one I got a little more depressed, and Rose got a little more angry. It was really scary when her eye started to twitch.

Eventually I made a move which unwittingly gave Rose's queen the checkmate, which caused Mr Weasley to slur, "What the _hell_ Malfoy, what's _wrong with you_?"

I clenched my eyes shut for Rose's explosion as she jumped to her feet, then I felt her hands grab my front as she pulled me to my feet, threw her arms round my neck and proceeded to kiss me passionately. I opened my eyes in shock and could see Hugo's stifling his laughter with one hand with the other across his stomach, and I tried to push Rose away, fear turning to lead in my stomach for Mr Weasley's reaction, when suddenly a hand pulled me roughly backward, causing me to stumble into the wall and to the floor.

"_Get your filthy little hands off my daughter, Malfoy_," Mr Weasley growled, chest heaving with drink-fuelled temper.

I could sense things were about to get out of hand, and remained on the floor. He'd been itching for this and I didn't want to give him any reason to punch me.

"Rose Weasley," screamed Hermione, "you put your wand away this _instant_!"

I looked at Rose, whose face was contorted in anger, which made me angry. No Rose, don't reason with him or calm the situation in any way, no just jump in all gun's blazing and ruin every chance I'll ever have of making your father warm to me. See how that works out.

Mr Weasley turned to his angry daughter, and disregarding the wand she held to his face, pointed a finger back at her, "I told you, Rose, I said, _don't get friendly with him_, and you say 'Oh, but dad, he's nothing like his dad' but _of course he fucking is_, you're a perfect carbon copy of your bloody mother, and Hugo's _just like me_, how the bloody hell can he not be just like those _evil bastards_?" he half-yelled, half-slurred.

Rose opened her mouth to scream back but he continued, "No, Rose, this is it, I'm putting my foot down, you choose, the Malfoy's or the Weasley's," and he folded his arms victoriously across his chest.

"Ronald..." Hermione began, but I stopped her.

"Mrs Weasley, it's okay... you don't have to," I sighed quietly and got tiredly to my feet "...I won't cause any more disruption to your family, Sir," I said confidently to Mr Weasley, and then without a last look I left the house.

"Scorpius!" Rose called, catching up with me at the gate, "What did that mean?" she cried, "are you…?"

"I don't know, Rose," I yelled, "but you know what really pisses me off? You made no effort to make your father like me, you just dangled me like a toy in front of his face just to piss him off, and look what's it done. So I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see if he backs off, but if not, then yes, that's it for us, my family's done enough to the Weasley's," I said as Hermione's worried face hovered in the doorway, and my mind lingered vividly on my father's earlier words, _"it's very difficult to make small talk with the mother of your son's girlfriend when you've watched impotently the most traumatic event of their lives."_

And with the full weight of my father's guilt, I spun on the spot and apparated away.

But I didn't go home. I went to Malfoy Manor, with the sole intention of yelling and screaming at Lucius Malfoy for condemning me to this life. I ran full pelt down the stately path, and banged on the door in anger. Eventually my grandmother's concerned face appeared.

"Scorpius, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Lucius," I said, pushing past.

"Well he's in the drawing room, but you can't just…"

I stormed toward the closed door, noting the abrupt end of a conversation from within as I entered, but finding Lucius alone, I cast my eyes over more disapproving portraits I hadn't noticed before. Frightened by my entrance the crow took flight and soared over my head and out of the open door.

Lucius looked at me, confused and expectant, but I suddenly felt lost for words, which was okay because everything had gone a little hazy. Maybe I was crying?

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	5. Talk to him for me

**Talk to him for me**

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**POV: Rose**

* * *

I waited patiently for Scorpius' face to appear within the mirror. I called his name. I whispered it, I murmured it, I cried it, I shouted it. But nothing happened.

I curled into my bed cursing my father under my breath, but it didn't take me long to realise it was myself I should be cursing. My father was wrong, I wasn't a carbon copy of my mother. I had inherited many of his traits too. Like pig-headedness and social idiocy.

I tried again in the morning.

And the next day.

And the next.

But nothing.

Nothing.

* * *

"Rosie?" my mother shook me awake gently.

"Mmm…?"

"It's time for you to get up, you'll be late…"

I struggled to comprehend what she was saying, then I remembered, the internship.

"I made you a cup of tea," she said, placing it on my bedside table, stroking my cheek briefly and leaving.

I rolled onto my side gratefully and took a sip of life-giving tea, then heaved myself out of bed. Scorpius may be able to ignore me from afar, but he couldn't ignore me at Auror training.

"Are you ready Rose?" my father asked uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with me. I simply stared at him in response until he presented his arm, which I grabbed too tightly, causing him to wince in pain before he spun on the spot and apparated us to London.

* * *

I followed my father through the bustling crowds of the Ministry workers, until I caught a glimpse of pure blonde hair and my heart faltered. I raced ahead, pushing through in order to catch up, but missed him as he pulled an elevator door shut behind him and disappeared into the bowels of the building. Disappointment flexing in my jaw as I waited for my father, we stepped into the next elevator, my heart racing in anticipation.

As we made our way down the corridor toward the Auror offices, I spotted Albus and sped up once more, this time succeeded in the endeavour.

"Al," I said, catching his elbow.

He turned to me, with a look of confusion lingering on his face, "Oh, hey Rosie…"

"Are you ok…?" I furrowed my brow in worry.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine… it's just…" and he turned his head back in the direction it had been facing, staring after Scorpius' receeding figure.

My thoughts left Albus instantly, and I continued my vendetta to reach Scorpius. I gained on him quickly, and was just within reaching distance when a voice called loudly for our attention, and I was forced to drop my outstretched hand and turn to politely listen to my Uncle.

"Good morning interns," called Harry, appraising the clipboard in his hand.

An unenthusiastic chorus of good mornings sounded in response, and I eyed the back of Scorpius' head anxiously.

"Okay, I'm going to start by splitting you all into groups of five, and assigning each group to an Auror who will be instructing you throughout the first week," and proceeded to call out names.

"Peri Poliakoff, Rose Weasley, Rob Beamish, Nymphadora Dobbs and Gregory Yates, you'll be with Auror Teddy Lupin."

My gaze moved from Scorpius to Teddy with a sinking feeling as Harry continued.

"Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Potter, Fergus Shaw, Imogen Snow and Bethany Twycross., you'll be with Auror Ronald Wealey."

Shocked, I shot a look at my meddlesome Uncle, and wondered what the bloody hell he was thinking, and waited impatiently for him to finish reading through the lists.

"Okay, so this morning you will be given a tour of the ministry, then you'll have one hour in Diagon Alley for lunch, which you will have each day, and then this afternoon your assigned Auror will give you a breakdown of what it means to be an Auror, the roles we play and the education and training required to become one. Is that clear?"

There was a mumble of confirmation from the crowd.

"Good. Right, if you would now head over to your assigned Auror, we will begin the tours."

As Scorpius moved away, I desperately tried to catch his eye and move toward him, but the moving crowd impeded me. I grabbed Albus as he passed and hissed "Talk to him for me," to which he nodded and moved away. I stood for a moment in anxiety before I headed over to Teddy.

"Wotcher Rose," he winked cheekily.

"Hi Teddy," I smiled weakly, "How's married life?"

"Can't complain," he said, "because she'll hex me if I do," he added.

I laughed softly, then, once we were all assembled round the room, I finally caught his eye, and I froze.

The look he gave me, was so cold, I could literally feel the blood with in me drop a few degrees, as if it was physically manipulating my core temperature. I suddenly felt the need to drop my gaze, unable to take it.

"Right kids," beamed Teddy, rubbing his hands together, "let's head down to the Control of Magical Creatures department first, that's always a fun visit!"

* * *

"Wow, so he's really mad at you then?" said Rowan gently, taking a sip of her coffee.

I nodded sadly, curling my hands around my own cup, outside Patil's Patisserie. We were waiting for Albus to appear, still with _him_ we assumed, but we only had half an hour left until I had to return to Teddy, and Rowan to St Mungo's, where she was attending the Healer alternate internship.

The tour had been horribly awkward. I barely knew any of my group. Nymphadora was a slightly, eccentric would be the word, Hufflepuff, with an aura of dysfunction hanging round her like a bad smell. Her best friend, Peri, was a Ravenclaw, whose was more serene and well, sane, and much easier to converse with, but shy to the point of awkwardness. Then I had the pure delight of Greg and Rob, easily the most idiotic pair of egotistical, chauvinistic gits you've ever come across in your life. They entertained themselves during the tour by loudly announcing which of the female ministry officials they would 'do', and then spent a large portion of the excursion commenting on how nice my arse was. I was _this_ close to hexing them, or else physically banging their heads together like coconuts.

"I'm sure he'll come around," Rowan said, in answer to my silence, and I again nodded, too upset to speak, giving another hopeful glance round the crowd of shoppers for Albus. I bristled with annoyance at my Uncle, for managing to assign every student to a group with at least one friend, except for me. I could only assume his ridiculous move of assigning _him_ to my father's group, was in the hope that he would see the real him, and not the Malfoy name. And stuck poor Albus in to mediate.

"Hey guys," chimed Albus as he finally appeared, dropping into the seat next to Rowan and leaning over to give her an eager greeting kiss. I wrinkled my nose in envious disgust, then as soon as he finished demanded, "Well?"

"Well what," he said innocently, picking up Ro's hand in his.

"Oh don't even Albus Severus, I will punch you," I hissed, leaning forward ever so slightly.

Albus sighed and his face became more serious, looking away, "he wouldn't talk to me."

I sat back in my chair, shocked, "Why wouldn't he talk to you? You've done nothing wrong…"

"I don't know Rosie," he said, obviously concealing his dismay, "I tried joking, and begging, and he would barely deign to look at me. I don't know what's going on, but, something's obviously really bothering him, he, well, he's never been like this, he doesn't do this, stop talking to people. It's not his style. I think it's more than just you."

I nodded, thinking about his ill grandfather. Looking away as Albus did, a flash of blonde caught my eye, and my stomach flipped as I saw him, then dropped like lead as my eye line followed down his arm, as he pulled a giggling Bethany Twycross by the hand into Knockturn Alley.

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**AN: I am so sorry guys! I haven't updated since January! Bad, bad me... and now bad Scorpius... but mainly bad me... REVIEW!  
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	6. It really is over, after eveything?

**It really is over, after everything?**

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**POV: Rose**

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My eyes widened in fury, causing Albus to move his chair back and throw his arms over his head instinctively for protection, having seen this look before, most poignantly the time James threw my prized Hippogriff doll to the gnomes at the Burrow, who promptly ripped off its head and used the insides for bedding. Rowan also looked highly frightened, this being her first time to see it. I shot up from my chair and began storming over to where they had disappeared, shoving through the happy shoppers as Albus called after me in confusion. Breaking through into the entrance, I began searching rapidly until I turned a corner and found them.

They were standing a few feet apart, Bethany looking slightly blank with shock, which slowly morphed into a vindictive little smile as she appraised me. I pulled my arm back ready to launch my fist into her pretty little Slytherin face, despite the fact that she was much taller than me, and looked like she might have the ability to eat my dreams. I was then grabbed from behind by Albus, panting from his search, "What the hell is going on," he demanded, but it was directed at Scorpius rather than me.

I too looked at him angrily for an explanation, and he returned the look coolly, "Beth and I were merely... exploring," he drawled.

I flinched in anger as Bethany dropped her head in a small snigger, and shook Albus off of me.

"So this is it, is it?" I demanded, "it really is over, after everything?"

He pushed off from the wall he was leaning on, and moved in close to me, and whispered, "yes."

I stepped back, and Albus caught my arm once more.

Scorpius raised his, and said loudly, "Is this not what everyone wants? What everyone expects?" he called, "Scorpius Malfoy, would never date a Weasley, he should be with a Slytherin, should _be_ in Slytherin, should be a dick to his friends and embrace his superiority. Well here it Rose, this is it," he finished.

I listened in surprise, and was the first to speak, "Scor, you know we don't think that, we would never, we _have_ never said…"

"Whatever," he interrupted, "come on," and he reached out his hand, to Bethany, who took it gleefully, flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder as they turned and continued on their way.

I had no idea what to feel. My brain moved into overdrive trying to process. Paramount was anger, and rage as I watched them retreat, followed by heartbreak, and tears, then guilt and remorse, and more tears, and then confusion and yearning. I wanted to chase after him, grab him, shake him, kiss him, tell him he's an idiot and a dick, and punch him then just have him just hold me. Someone moved beside me and Rowan picked up my hand and squeezed it, looking worriedly into my face. I turned to look at Albus, whose face reflected mine, and we settled on just being confused.

Rowan looked at her watch, "We need to get back."

* * *

Back at the Ministry I moved slowly to re-join Teddy, saw Peri and Nym chuckling wildly together, Greg wolf-whistled at me and Rob punch him in the arm in delight, then, beyond the group, I spotted my father's red head bobbing through the crowd, saw him look with distaste as Scorpius and Bethany joined him, which then turned into a victorious smirk as he appraised they're entwined hands. I moved toward them, my father caught my eye and had the decency to look ashamed, but it didn't stop me slapping him as hard as I could across the face. He stared at me, wide-eyed as he held a hand to his reddening cheek, and without another word, I turned on my heel, headed over to the fireplaces, and went home.

* * *

My father didn't come up to see me when he returned. I heard a whispered argument between him and my mother, and then the door opened and slammed closed. Eventually I heard footsteps begin to ascend the staircase, and a soft knock on the door, which could only have been my mother. She opened it tentatively and popped her head round, "may I come in?"

I looked at her, and nodded weakly from my foetal position on the bed, exhausted from crying. She moved into the room and sat beside me, looked at me for a moment in thought, and then opened her arms for me to crawl into, "Tell me what happened," she said.

It took me a while to relay it all, I find speaking difficult when I'm upset as it just makes me cry even more. My mother's eyes watched fearfully and sympathetically, and I could almost see her mentally flipping through the books she had no doubt read on raising teenage daughters.

"And… I just… I saw him… and I couldn't help think how it was his fault, if he had just… got over himself and…and accepted Scorpius… like Uncle Harry… d-did… and all my anger just… filled me up and I… I slapped him. Really hard…" and I collapsed into sobs again.

"Okay sweetheart," my mother soothed, "shh, it's okay," and she stroked my hair.

"W-w-where is h-he?" I managed.

She paused, "He's gone to Harry's, I told him, I thought it would be best for him to stay there tonight."

I looked up at her in fright, "You told him to leave?"

"Yes, it's okay, we're okay, I am mad at him too but, your Dad and I are fine, okay darling?"

I nodded, not altogether reassured.

"I'll pop the kettle on," she said, giving me a squeeze and kissing the top of my head.

When she had left, I dug into my drawer and withdrew a picture taken of Scorpius and I at the wedding. He looked like a completely different person. His face lit up as he gazed at me, laughter etched around his eyes. I compared it to the version I had seen today, and wondered if my father's behaviour really could have caused that drastic a change? Another soft knock interrupted my reverie, and Hugo's head popped round the door, "Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied, wiping my eye and placing the picture back in the drawer.

"Rowan's called, a lot," he looked at me worriedly.

"Oh, okay, thank you, I'll call her back tomorrow."

He nodded, hands in his pocket, evidently wanting to say more but was crippled with boyish awkwardness.

"Want to watch TV?" he ventured.

And I laughed quietly, "Not tonight thanks, Hu," I smiled.

Looking slightly relieved at my smile, he returned it and shuffled off back downstairs.

I looked at the phone on my desk, and shoved off the bed to grab it, thinking about calling Rowan, and missing my owl Horus desperately, when I made a wild decision. I dialled the number, and hesitantly hovered over the dial button, then with a burst of courage quickly pressed it and hoped his father didn't pick up. A woman's voice answered. Relieved and then with renewed terror, I replied, "Good evening Mrs Malfoy, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I might speak with Scorpius?" I was greeted with a pause, "has he not told you?" she replied, confused, a little angry I thought.

"Told me what?" I hastened.

"He's moved in with his Grandparents," she replied, tersely.

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**AN: Oh no he didn't! REVIEW! (and sorry again...)  
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	7. He had fought for me

**He had fought for me**

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**POV: Rose**

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I seriously considered not going to the Ministry the following day, but a thought had occurred to me. When Scorpius was free from Lily, he had fought for me. He told Wood he loved me, he saved me from Dolo… from the Death Eater, and he waited patiently for me afterwards. He knew what he wanted and he waited and he took it, so, I decided I would do the same. Though I knew I had an apology to make first.

I decided to catch up with him before he left the Potters, and was cautiously knocking on their door about an hour before he was due to leave. Thankfully Aunt Ginny answered.

"Rosie! Hi, how lovely to see you," she said, pulling me into a hug.

"Sorry to be here so early…" I mumbled.

"It's fine. I assume you're here to see my ignoramus of an older brother?" she smiled kindly.

I nodded shyly and followed her inside.

"Ronald!" she called, "your daughter's here to see you."

"Oh," he replied, then I heard him say, "You go first Harry, I can use you as a shield."

Uncle Harry came into the hallway sniggering, his hands over his head in protection, much like Albus had done the previous day, and I rolled my eyes at him, folding my arms in annoyance as my father popped out from behind him, "Is it safe?" he said.

I nodded, then looked down as tears popped into my eyes, "I'm so sorry Dad," I mumbled.

"It's okay," he said, and moved quickly to wrap his arms awkwardly round me, and I responded enthusiastically.

"Look, Rosie, I'm… I'm sorry too, I've been, well a complete arse, about the whole thing, but, you need to understand, I just, I can't trust him, not that easily. And frankly, the way he was acting yesterday hasn't given me much to go on…"

"That's not him Dad, he's not, he's upset, and a lot of it's your fault!"

"My fault?" he cried.

"Yes your fault! The whole 'Malfoy' family connotations you brought up? He mentioned it to me and Albus yesterday, he's just, he's obviously really angry about the whole thing and it seems he's now taking that out on everyone, and acting the way everyone expects him too, the way _you_ expect him too, he's even moved in with his grandparents…" I trailed off.

He suddenly became very serious, "He's living with Lucius Malfoy?" he confirmed.

"Yes, I found out yesterday…" I replied nervously.

He then looked over at Harry, who looked equally concerned.

"What?" I said suspiciously.

"It's just… worrying, sweetheart…" he replied evasively.

"Here we go again," I said angrily, "Has Lucius Malfoy even stepped a toe out of line since the war?"

"Well, no, not that we know of…" he backtracked.

"So can't he just be a dying man wanting to get to know his only grandchild? Oh, no, it has to be something evil. I know, maybe they're raising an army to kill Uncle Harry? And Scorpius is going to be the new rallying point?"

"No one thinks that Rose," Harry stepped in, "it's just something worth monitoring."

"But it's not…" I began.

"Look Rosie, I'm the Head of the Auror office, and Ron is my second in command, it's our job to be overly suspicious when anything significant happens with a known death eater, especially one as powerful as Lucius Malfoy was."

His tone was so resolute that I knew I was beat, so I decided to keep my mouth shut, and moved angrily off to find Albus in his room.

"Morning Rosie," he mumbled, as I sat heavily on the end of his bed, where he was still sleeping.

"He's living with his grandparents."

He lifted his head up to look at me drowsily, then flipped onto his back, "Okay…"

"Okay? That's all you have to say?"

"Well, yes, it's strange and I'm surprised he didn't tell me but, it makes sense. Lucius is dying, maybe he's just helping his grandmother...?"

I knew he was probably right, "I've decided I'm going to fight for him, or, wait for him, til he gets over this," I announced, anxious for his opinion.

He looked at me calmly, "What about Bethany?"

I flinched a little, "I just, need to hope that hand holding is as far as he's going to go to prove whatever point he's making."

Al nodded sagely, "I think that's wise. Now get out, I sleep naked and I need to go get in the shower."

Repulsed, I darted out of the room as quickly as possible, now disgusted I'd even touched his bed.

When I got downstairs, I wandered into the kitchen where Uncle Harry was alone making tea, and I had an idea.

After a quick moment's thought I announced, "I want to switch places with Bethany Twycross."

He turned to look at me wearily, obviously having been expecting this, "Rose, you know I can't do that, I can't give you special privileges just because…"

"I'm sincerely sorry to do this Uncle Harry, but either you switch us, or I tell Aunt Ginny how overly friendly Professor Chang was with you whilst you were at Hogwarts," I replied solemnly.

He widened his eyes at me, and I could see the scenarios of Ginny's jealously and vengeance chasing through his mind. I wouldn't be surprised if she stormed down to the castle and punched Professor Chang like I would have done Bethany, for even looking at Harry, let alone flirting with him. Though I'm happy to say each time I saw it, Uncle Harry merely blushed awkwardly and found a way to leave.

"Your move," I replied after I'd giving him a moment to think.

After a long pause, his only reply was, "You're just like you're mother."

* * *

Bethany looked hugely put out when Uncle Harry told her that she had to move, but quickly quietened down after she realised her Auror would now be Teddy. I'd often seen her and her friend Imogen making eyes at him whilst he was at Hogwarts, and she happily skipped over there seemingly giving no second thought to Scorpius. He looked unsurprised at this turn of events, and politely ignored me as I stood resolutely beside him. Albus merely smirked at me in amusement, whilst Fergus Shaw appraised me with some interest, and Imogen smiled in a surprisingly sincere way. I was expecting a little more hostility, though she was a Gryffindor, making her friendship with Bethany unusual. I think they may have been childhood friends.

My father narrowed his eyes at my sudden appearance, and looked over at Harry for an explanation, who was now too busy looking at something highly interested on the ceiling.

Dad sighed and turned back to us, "Okay, well, this morning we're going to be having a potion's lesson of sorts, we'll show you what kinds of things are use down in the lab, and stuff we use on the job and such, and if we have time you'll have a go at making one of the easier ones," Dad said, looking for some sort of enthusiasm from us, but there was none, "Okay, let's go," he gave up.

Scorpius followed swiftly to avoid us, so Albus and I trailed behind miserably.

"Hi," said Fergus, dropping into step with me, "Fergus Shaw," he held out his hand.

I shook it back, "Rose Weasley," I replied distrustfully.

"Good handshake," he laughed.

I raised my eyebrows and looked over at Al, who merely raised them back before dropping his pace to talk to Imogen, abadoning me.

Twat.

"Thanks," I replied, "I practice daily."

He laughed again, "So, what's going on with Malfoy then?"

I bristled, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, s'hard to not notice his change of character," he replied innocently, "I thought you two were dating?"

"Uh, not, uh, not at the moment…" I trailed off.

"Good," he replied smiling, then sped up to join Dad.

"Rose," Albus called, "This is Imogen."

"Hi," I ventured, still taken aback by Fergus.

"Hey," she smiled, "I uh, just wanted to apologise about Beth, she's... gone off the rails a little recently," she smiled apologetically.

I furrowed my eyebrows at her and decided not to answer, just nodding in reply.

"Imi's having a party, Rose, she's invited both of us," he said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Oh," I replied, shocked at her offer, "Thank you, I'll, I'll be there," I smiled tersely, then listened as she and Albus lapsed into conversation, fixing my eyes on Scorpius' receding figure.

* * *

Scorpius maintained his icy manner throughout the morning, and slipped away at lunch as he had done the day before, alone this time, so Albus and I met with Rowan again. I was in slightly better spirits by the time I had returned for the afternoon, more resolute in my course of action, striking up easy conversation with Imogen, steadily ignoring Fergus' leering. Then Albus pulled at my sleeve for my attention. I looked over at him and he raised his arm briefly to point something out for me. I looked over, and Scorpius was stood with Uncle Harry's group. I looked round our group abruptly and noticed a new boy stood awkwardly with us. Catching my father's eye he shrugged apologetically,

"Sorry Rosie, he had to let him move. You set a precedent."

And once more I was left with no idea how to feel. But one thing was for sure, it was getting a little too hard to keep watching him walk away from me.

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**AN: I am going somewhere with this. Trust me. And I will trust you, to review.  
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	8. You can't ignore me forever

**You can't ignore me forever**

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**POV: Rose**

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"So who is Imogen?" asked Rowan, as nonchalantly as she could manage.

"Albus' mistress," I replied.

She punched me in the arm.

"Calm down," I whined, rubbing my injury pathetically, "she's just a girl in our group," I assured her.

"Well, considering her friend Bethany's behaviour, I think I'm perfectly at right to be suspicious…" she argued.

"True, but luckily for you Albus isn't going through a teenage crisis, taking it out on the people who love him and being a complete twat," I countered.

"Fair enough," she agreed, defeated.

I examined my hair in the mirror, barely satisfied as usual with the taming of my auburn frizz, but it at least looked mainly presentable in its now large ringlets. I glanced over with envy as Rowan straightened her long, dark, silky hair.

The first week of the internship had passed and Scorpius' attitude hadn't changed. I'd thought about trying to change groups again, but after his petty move it seemed desperate. But now it had been almost two weeks since the dinner at my house, and I was beginning to feel desperate. I literally could see no remedy to this situation. I couldn't apologise, because he wouldn't talk to me. I couldn't be angry and ignore him, because it would only make things worse. I'd even considered using Fergus' interest to make him jealous, but I knew that would be my worst move, and potentially cause irreparable harm. So I was just waiting. Waiting for what I didn't know, but as each day passed, I felt more and more worried that this really was it.

It had taken a lot of persuading on Albus and Rowan's part to get me to go to Imogen's party, but here I was, slipping into a pretty dress, doing my hair and perfecting my make-up. Rowan kept insisting that this would make Scorpius see what he was missing, and I secretly hoped it was that easy.

I still kept a careful watch on him. He seemed to be socialising with everyone but Albus and I, with a different group of interns each time I saw him, when he wasn't disappearing at lunch, and it was certainly fuelling my curiosity. And my irritation. But to my immense relief, he had made no more attempts to use Bethany in whatever game he was playing.

Finally satisfied with our vanity efforts, Rowan and I descended the stairs to much excitement and fawning from my mother, impatience from Albus who had wanted to leave hours ago, and palpable anxiety from my father.

"Back by midnight Rose," he called imperiously as we headed outside for Albus to apparate us, "I mean it Rose, if you are not back by one minute past twelve, I will come to that party, and I swear to wizard god, I will _dance_."

"Okay, Dad!" I called back, genuinely fearful at this serious threat.

The benefit of arriving late was that the party was now in full swing, and everyone had already had a couple of drinks from the area Imogen immediately led us too, after she let us in. I quickly poured myself a stiff firewhiskey, gulped it down, and then led Albus and Rowan to the dance area, where I quickly relaxed and started to let loose a little. I loved to dance as luckily I knew how to work my body, unlike Rowan, who now looked uncomfortable and awkward as Albus jokingly Dad danced beside her. I was surprised at the number of people at the party. I'd assumed it would just be the interns, of which there were twenty-five, but Imogen had obviously invited a lot more of her own friends, and the house was full to the rafters. It is an absolute blessing to be a teenager with magical powers, because, when you can restore the damage with a flick of a wand before your parents get home, and cast a muffelatio charm in order to keep the neighbours from calling the police, house parties are a complete success.

I began noticing a few boys casting me appreciative looks, and my ego levels began to happily increase, until I spotted Fergus slowly trying to dance his way across the room toward me, and decided to duck out to grab another drink.

I saw Bethany slip into a room with a boy I didn't recognise, and I envied her a little, imagining what this party would be like if Scorpius was holding my hand right now. I couldn't deny that I would probably be following Bethany's lead. Having been together only a short time, we'd barely had a chance to explore that side of things yet, as much as we both wanted to, though I knew I wasn't ready to go all the way yet.

I poured my second drink and inadvertently caught the eye of a guy near me, who downed his drink and approached me. He wasn't bad looking at all and I felt flattered as he asked me to dance, but just as I was about to say no, I spotted my one and only watching me from across the room. My heart beat faster as I surveyed his expression, but he looked completely unmoved by the guy's interest in me, so in a fit of anger I followed suit, downed my drink, and dragged the cute boy to the dance floor, keeping one eye on Scorpius the entire time, until eventually he slunk off and I felt a small victory had been won, mingled with a little bit of guilt.

Eventually the guy got a little too hands on and I excused myself, looking for the bathroom, when a drunk girl stumbled into my path, "Oh, s-sorry," she slurred as I tried to help her to her feet, "thanks, sooo much…"

"That's okay," I replied, and tried to continue on my way, but she barricaded my path by leaning her arm on the opposite wall.

"You're really… r-eally pretty," she mumbled, and ran her other hand up my arm in what I believe she thought was a suggestive way.

"Woah," was all I could muster, flinging my hands up in protection and spinning round to escape.

Unable to believe what just happened, I quickly found Albus at the drinks table, and announced "Al! I totally just pulled a girl!"

He looked up at me, impressed, "Was she hot?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Of course," I bragged, "and completely wasted."

"Score," he replied, holding up his hand for a high five.

I laughed and smacked my hand against his as he moved off to re-join Rowan, and feeling suddenly woozy and unsteady on my feet, I spotted a back door and stepped outside gratefully into the cool, crisp air.

Leaning against the wall I tried to clear my head, but it had settled into a gentle spin. I kicked off my heels as the pain they were causing began to slowly register, and the cool concrete soothed them beautifully. I then noticed a movement near the bottom of the garden, and I squinted through the darkness, easily discerning the blonde hair of Scorpius Malfoy. Feeling cocky, I headed over to him, finding him leaning broodily against a large tree. I stared at him for a second and then leant next to him, about a foot away, looking back at the house as he was. You could watch the party easily from here, seeing through the windows into the room in which people were dancing. I wondered briefly if he had been watching me.

"You can't ignore me forever," I said.

He stayed silent for a while, but surprised me by eventually saying, "It's hard to miss you in that dress."

I looked over in the darkness, trying to discern his expression.

"Was that an insult or a compliment?" I said, turning toward him, leaning one shoulder onto the tree for support.

"What do you think?" he said, mirroring my movement so that we were mere inches from each other.

The proximity was almost electric. I felt a dull, burning desire to close the empty space between us spread through my body, and longed painfully for him to kiss me, and despite my better judgement, my desperation won through, and I slowly moved invitingly toward him. And he took the bait.

He caught my lips suddenly in his, crushing himself into me eagerly, pulling me closer as he kissed me hungrily. I felt shocked by his ferocity, he'd never been like this before, but I was just so grateful to be kissing him in any way that I reciprocated enthusiastically. He moved me roughly round, so that I was now pushed against the tree, and moved his lips to my neck, running a hand down my body then up under my dress. I began to get uncomfortable. He had never been this demanding of me. He was always overly cautious and polite, he even usually asked me for my permission to even touch my boobs over my clothes, which I found both annoying and weirdly charming. But his aggressiveness right now, though completing arousing, was also scaring me. I tried to push his hand back down, but he simply became more persistent,

"Scor," I cried, trying to push him away, but he pushed himself into me harder.

"Scorpius, stop," I said, struggling against him, but he wouldn't.

"Stop!" I screamed in fear, and then suddenly he bucked off me, almost like he'd been punched.

He fell back onto one knee, panting, and I moved away, now scared, and screamed slightly as he bucked wildly again, falling onto his back, breathless and winded.

For a wild moment I wondered whether someone was attacking him from underneath the invisibility cloak, but I felt sure we were alone.

Instinctively I moved toward him, to help him up, but he crawled backwards violently, "Don't touch me," he hissed, "mudblood runt!"

And with that, he struggled to his feet and apparated away.

I don't know how long I stood there for. It felt like hours. My blood had run cold and I was frozen to the spot. Because Scorpius Malfoy would never, under any circumstance, use the word 'mudblood'.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**AN: What you guys don't know is I've been engineering so much right under your noses.  
**


	9. Well, I have two theories on that

**Well, I have two theories on that**

* * *

**POV: Rose**

* * *

"Rose?" a tentative voice called out.

I moved slightly, my senses returning in a disorientating rush.

"Rose, is that you?"

I looked up, and saw Rowan by the back door, squinting through the darkness.

"R-Rowan," I called back, moving toward her.

She came toward me, a worried look on her familiar face, and suddenly, I didn't trust her.

I stepped back.

"Rose…? What's wrong…?" she paused in her tracks.

My mind moved wildly, mentally rifling through every person in my life.

"N-nothing," I stammered, finding it difficult to breath.

After a moments silence, Rowan said, "Stay there Rose, I'm going to get Albus."

I flinched away in fear, and knew I couldn't surrender myself to apparate with him. It wasn't safe.

As soon as Rowan went back inside, I slipped away down the side of the house, retrieving my wand from my bag and raising it in front of me.

Memories of my trauma were flooding through my mind, in painful tides. I felt the ghost of the pain attack me from all sides. I remembered the way Dolohov's face had bubbled, but it was Scorpius who was revealed in my mind. I needed to get home, but I could no longer move. I was trembling from head to foot and I felt physically sick with fear. I couldn't breathe.

"Rose?" a voice called out worriedly, and my fear only increased, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe, I needed to escape.

They could hear me, and found me.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Rowan cried, dropping to her knees and putting a hand on my cheek to look at me.

Albus stood in shock, then dropped down too, "Calm down Rose, just breathe, it's just us…"

I shook my head, desperately trying to take in air through my panic.

Albus reach for something in his pocket, a wand to attack me, I flung my arms up over my head for protection.

"Al I thinks she's hyperventilating!" cried Rowan, and then all of a sudden Uncle Harry was there. I think I must have passed out.

My heart jumped when I saw him, and relief washed through me as I grabbed onto his front for help. If there was anyone in the entire world I could trust, it was him.

"Ssh, Rose it's okay," he said, grasping my hands, "just breathe" he said, and breathed deeply himself, to show me how, and I concentrated on mirroring it, finally taking in relieving amounts of air, before bursting into sobs. He pulled me into his arms gently and rocked me soothingly until I had calmed slightly, then moved away, picking me up with some effort into his arms, and apparated me home.

My mother stood at the open door waiting, and stood aside as Uncle Harry carried me in.

"Bring her to the sofa," she said, and hurried ahead of him to make it more comfortable.

He lowered me down gently, and I was reluctant to let go, I needed his help.

My mother took my hands gently, trying to prise them from Harry, and I looked at her wildly, for confirmation that it was her and not an imposter, but I couldn't help but feel safe when I saw her, my unconditional trust and love winning through, and I succumbed to her wishes. Glancing down at her arm, I saw the white scars flash back at me, 'mudblood', and I calmed somewhat further, breathing deeply and purposefully, trying to regain control.

"What happened Rose?" Uncle Harry said.

I looked fearfully toward the door of the sitting room, where Albus, Rowan and my father stood, then back at Harry.

"Albus, take Rowan home, then go straight home yourself. Ron, put the kettle on mate."

Albus and Dad nodded, and they moved away, Dad closing the door behind them.

Harry looked back at me, "better?"

I nodded, slowly.

"Okay, in your own time," he said.

I took a long moment before managing, "It's S… Scorpius…"

"What about him sweetheart?" Mum whispered.

"He… he's not… he's not… him… he… it's not… him…"

"What do you mean," Harry's eyes narrowed.

"He… he did things… I mean he acted… like he never would… and called me…," I glanced back at my mother's arm, unable to say it, so simply rubbed my thumb across her brand, looking up at her earnestly.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she and Harry exchanged looks.

"He would never say that Mum," I assured her, "ever."

"Okay Rose," Uncle Harry said, getting to his feet, "we'll talk about this more in the morning, after you've rested."

"You don't believe me," I whispered.

He looked at me carefully, and stooped down to look at me, "I do," he replied, "but before I move on this, I would prefer to hear it from you again, when you have a clear head. Do you understand?"

I nodded, not entirely sure I did, and looked to my mother, "I'm tired," was all I could manage, and she smiled warmly, and helped me upstairs and into bed.

* * *

I lay in bed for a long time when I woke. My thoughts revolving around the night before, analysing each part for clues. Eventually I heard Uncle Harry arrive.

After a muffled conversation with my parents, he ascended the stairs and softly tapped on the door, entering with a tray on which there was a cup of tea, and a piled plate of toast, no doubt sent up by my mother. I smiled at him and pulled myself up into a seated position as he passed the tray to me, and pulled my desk chair over to sit next to me.

"How are you feeling?" he said.

I thought about this, "I'm not sure," was all I could reply, and I gratefully sipped my tea, and it's healing powers flooded through me, as only it can for an Englishman.

"So, in detail, what happened last night?" he asked.

I cringed at what I knew I would have to reveal.

"Can you make sure we're not overheard?" I asked.

He contemplated me for a second, then flicked his wand out from where he had concealed it within his sleeve, and whispered, "Muffelatio," then he leant forward, settling his arms on his knees to listen.

I took a deep breath and began, "I found him in the garden, and, he kissed me," I blushed, "I mean, really kissed me, and, he, was a lot… rougher with me, than usual… well, he's never like that… and he tried to… push things too far… and I wasn't, I didn't want… so I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't, and I tried again, and again and I thought…" I stopped, and paused as I tried not to think about what might have happened.

I didn't look up at Uncle Harry as I continued, "Then something happened. He kind of, bucked away from me, like, he'd been punched, or something, and then it happened again. So I tried to help him, and that's when he called me… a 'mudblood runt'," I finally looked up at Uncle Harry, "I've been thinking about it carefully, and I know you could say that, he's going through a phase and he'd been drinking but… I know him. You have to understand that. I've known him since I was eleven, and I've watched him grow up and, romantically," I blushed, "he is sweet and gentle, he would never, in a million year act as he did, or call me what he did. No matter what," I finished.

Harry stared at me for a long second, and then nodded. I couldn't discern much from his expression before he eventually replied, "Okay."

"Okay?" I answered.

"What I mean, is that I believe you. I've been monitoring him throughout the week and after this, I would say that he is acting sufficiently out of character to support an investigation," I moved my head to show I understood, "I've known him too, Rose, since he was eleven, like you. He's spent every Christmas at my home since then, and I know what kind of boy he is, what kind of soul he has," he concluded.

I nodded, immensely relieved, "What do you think's… wrong?" I ventured.

He looked at me carefully, as if unsure whether to reveal his theories, but eventually he answered, "purely based on your description of his 'attack', or 'fit' perhaps would be the word, I think he may be under the effect of an Imperius curse."

I smiled briefly, "That was my theory too, but I had a few qualms with it."

"Like what?" he wondered.

"Well, why would he… attack me, in the way he did?"

He thought about this for a second before he replied, "Well, the Imperius curse is a tricky concept. I've had it used upon me, and I've used it myself, as you know, and in these two situations, both the cursed and curser were both present, so, it's relatively straightforward. The curser can just give orders as they please in reaction to what happens. But the difficulty with Scorpius' case, and the use of it by death eaters, is that they will not be constantly present. So then it moves into a form of what you could call 'brain washing'. The curser needs to instruct the cursed person in how to act, to then send them off and away to do their bidding. In this case, if we speculate to this theory, Scorpius will have been instructed not to socialise with you or Albus, in fear that you will discover something is wrong. That in itself was a dangerous move because it immediately indicates something is wrong, but luckily Scorpius has recent issues that would explain his behaviour and distance."

"But that doesn't explain…?" I began,

"Well, I have two theories on that," he interrupted, "The first, is that I've noticed you watching him at the internship. Which means he's noticed you watching him. So theory one, is that he was instructed to attack you in this way so you would stop watching, or perhaps leave the internship."

I nodded, "and theory two?"

"Theory two, is a complication with the absence of the curser. Scorpius has evidently been instructed in the preference of pure-blooded wizards, but the curser can't remove his feelings for you, especially in a teenager, who are more volatile and vunerable to their hormones. So it could be that the real Scorpius' feelings towards you became overwhelming whilst you were alone, but its manifestation came out more aggressively due to his new… ethics. But the important fact in both theories, and the motion I believe reveals the curse, is that Scorpius stopped himself."

I smiled a little at this thought. It was immensely relieving to think that he was in there somewhere, that it wasn't a different person.

"So, if he is under the Imperius curse, he's getting stronger, and beginning to fight back," he resolved.

I felt a surge of pride rise in my chest, but then my thoughts swerved round to the biggest unanswered question.

"Do you think it was Lucius?"

"No," he replied, rather confidently.

"What makes you so sure?" I asked.

"Because Lucius Malfoy passed away in the early hours of this morning, from pancreatic cancer."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**AN: Okay, I was always planning to do this, but it wasn't until now that I stopped to think: "Can Wizards get Cancer?" Thinking about it there's a good chance they have a cure for it, but I just liked the idea of something human killing Lucius, not magical, so in my fake Harry Potter world, wizard's can indeed die from cancer. But regardless, it's not the important issue, the important issue is, who the eff imperiused Scorpius if it wasn't Lucius? DUN DUN DUR!**


	10. How incredibly reckless

**How incredibly reckless**

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**POV: Rose**

My thoughts were on a constant revolve around Scorpius.

The news of Lucius' death had shocked me on many levels, and it seemed strange to me that something so… human, could kill him.

Narcissa was now on the top of their suspect list, but Uncle Harry had confided in me that he had very strong convictions that she was not the culprit.

"It was because of Narcissa's love for her family that you and I are sitting here today, Rose. If she hadn't lied to Voldemort and told him that I was dead, I never would have come out of that forest alive. So if there is only one thing I know about that woman, it's that she'd never endanger her family, let alone imperiuse her only grandchild, whom she has only just met after sixteen years."

But it occurred to me, that a separation of sixteen years from a beloved son and grandchild could cause a family orientated woman to act a little crazily, couldn't it?

The problem was, was that we had absolutely no idea why either Malfoy would imperiuse their grandson. So far all Scorpius seemed to have been directed to do was stop talking to Albus and I, make moves on Bethany, and attack me. And whilst I wasn't theorising about reasons for his actions, I was trying very hard not to think about how good that attack had felt. Before it had gone too far, that is.

Neither Mum nor Dad knew about it, and I planned to keep it that way. Imperius curse or not, Dad would have killed him, and I mean that in no joke.

I rolled over in my bed, and buried my head under my pillow in frustration.

Uncle Harry had told me not to come to the internship next week, working on his theory that Scorpius' master wanted me out of the way, so that he could observe him more closely. This was about the only way we had of ever discovering his intentions, as you can't exactly use Veritaserum on an imperiused person, they're merely a puppet. They can only tell you _what_ they've done, not _why_.

The biggest motivation of course, for such drastic measures, could be that they wanted to use Scorpius to get to Uncle Harry. I knew full well that he had told the Malfoy's he was attending the internship with Harry, so they knew he would be spending time with him, but I felt that the Malfoy's actions at the end of the war, Narcissa lying, and them not fighting, made it hard to believe they would carry this hatred for Harry for so long. Or that they would use their grandson as the puppet, for any outcome of this for Scorpius was either Azkaban, or death.

So perhaps it was something smaller than that? Scorpius had said from the beginning that he was just acting as everyone expected him to, a practice highly important to the proud Malfoy family. So perhaps angry at Scorpius' behaviour, a Gryffindor, best friends with the son of Harry Potter, dating the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, ambitions to be an Auror, perhaps they snapped? I had no doubt that they were highly controlling of Draco, dictating his life, his friends, the way he acted, the profession he entered, the woman he married, perhaps they wanted to control Scorpius too, but do it differently this time? Not fail. It certainly explained why he would pursue Bethany Twycross, but then come to think of it, why did he stop pursuing her?

Then a thought struck me.

Just because Lucius had died, didn't mean that he _wasn't_ the curser.

He hadn't died until the early hours of this morning! Meaning the curse wouldn't have potentially broken until then, and he would have been in control of Scorpius last night!

What if Scorpius was free right now?

And suddenly, without thinking, I was jumping out of my bed, racing into the shower, and within ten minutes, I was sneaking out of the back door, pulling my partially towel-dryed hair into a ponytail as I went.

Feeling more desperate than ever for my seventeenth birthday to arrive, I stepped to the side of the road, cast out my wand arm, and stepped onto the Knight bus, giving the driver the address of Malfoy Manor.

I sat anxiously near the front, and the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that Lucius must have cast the curse. It couldn't be Narcissa, like Harry said, she cared too much for her family… oh god… and Lucius has just died… she must be a mess…

Hesitantly, I took my wand out of my pocket, and with a sophisticated little flick, conjured a beautiful bouquet of white tulips, trusting on the company of other wizards to mask my use of underage magic. Though I doubted something so innocent would raise the red flags of my Trace.

We soon arrived, and with a deep breath ,and the face of Scorpius smiling in our photograph in my mind's eye, I stepped off the bus, gathered my nerve and pushed the gate open, walking quickly down the long and stately path leading to the front door, which I hesitated in front of before knocking loudly.

Narcissa answered.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy," I burst out, "my name is Rose Weasley."

She raised a shapely eyebrow at me, before dropping her eyes down to the flowers.

"I'm so sorry to call in at such an early hour, only I heard of your… loss, and I was desperate to pay my respects…" I trailed off, nervously offering her the flowers.

After a long second in which she made no move, she very slightly shook her head, as if coming to her senses. Her hair was loose, and her eyes seemed heavy. Her face was puffed and lined, she looked very tired.

"Thank you," she said, reaching out to take the flowers, which I gave her gratefully with a nervous smile.

She looked down at them for another long second, "would you like to come in?" she said softly.

My spidey senses tingled, but I needed to see Scorpius.

"That would be lovely," I replied, and I followed her inside.

She led me into the drawing room, and bid me sit in one of the chairs in the window bay whilst she left to make tea. I gazed at the luscious surroundings, and the opulent occupants of the portraits gazed back at me in distaste. On the mantle sat a large, stuffed crow, which then startled me by taking flight, and I laughed softly in spite of my fright. It settled itself stiffly on the back of a large, wing backed chair by the fireplace. The chair was very deliberately positioned, and its emptiness seemed to literally scream the loss of Lucius Malfoy from the house, and I suddenly felt very sorry for the Malfoy family. The crow proceeded to watch me beadily, as if guarding the chair from me, in case I tried to sit in it. I remembered when Scorpius had told me of this place, and my deducement was correct. It was like something out of a Gothic novel.

Suddenly the door shut with a snap, and I looked up with a jump as the crow took flight once more, to the top of a grandfather clock. Scorpius stood next to the door.

"What are you doing here?" he said, coldly, and I could feel the colour draining from my face.

"I came to pay my condolences to your Grandmother," I answered, attempting to sound equally cold.

"Why?" he asked, remaining by the door, and I felt overly conscious of it being the only exit.

"Because it's the accepted form of social behaviour in this situation, Malfoy," I replied, trying to inflict anger into my voice, instead of fear. The door opened again, and Narcissa had returned, empty-handed.

How incredibly reckless I'd been.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Malfoy, I should get going," I mumbled in panic, standing quickly, "I shouldn't have bothered you so early in your grief. I didn't realise Scorpius would be here, and I couldn't bear the thought of you being on your own, but he obviously is here, so I'll leave you," I said, moving towards them and the door.

To my insane relief, she merely nodded and stood to the side, letting me pass, and I headed swiftly to the front door.

Perhaps I was wrong?

"Rose, wait," I heard Scorpius call, and my heart fluttered in hope.

I stopped and turned.

He came out of the drawing room.

Raised his wand.

And then a flash of red light engulfed me.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**AN: Theories guys. What are your theories?  
**


	11. The tip of the iceberg

**The tip of the iceberg**

* * *

**POV: Rose**

* * *

My senses slowly began to return, my fingertips spasmed, and my eyes fluttered open. It was pitch black.

My chest started to cloud with fear as I listened carefully for any signs of life around me, and my breathing became laboured. I could feel a panic attack brewing.

The situation was too similar.

Waking in the dark.

The fear you weren't alone.

I couldn't move for fear.

I slowly pushed myself up into a seated position, checking myself for injury as I went. I felt fine, so I stood, again slowly, assessing my surroundings, but it was too dark to see anything.

Suddenly a door banged open and I screamed, flying backwards I hit a wall, and shrank down against it, cowering.

I heard footsteps move into the room, and it washed with light.

A chair scraped back and then forth as someone sat.

"Come and sit down, Weasley," Scorpius voice drawled.

I relaxed ever so slightly, armed with the knowledge that he wouldn't hurt me, he couldn't.

With great effort I lowered my arms from their protective position, and turned my head to find Scorpius sat at a table. I struggled to control my breathing as I stood, and slowly walked toward him, casting nervous glances over my shoulder, and seating myself far away from him on the long table.

The room was stone lined, and windowless. Escapeless.

"Did you tell anyone you were coming here?" he asked politely.

My heart raced. '_Lie_' it screamed.

"Yes," I spoke clearly.

"Good," he replied, and stood to leave.

"Wait," I called, confused, "how is that _good_?"

"Because, Weasley, it means that your Uncle will be here soon to get you."

My stomach plummeted. They _were_ after Uncle Harry. But why?

"Oh, well, then I lied," I called out after him.

He paused in the doorway, and turned to look at me, perplexed.

"Which is it?" he asked after a long silence.

"I lied. No one knows I'm here," I said quickly.

He sighed, and then pulled out his wand.

I braced myself.

But he merely used it to conjure a parchment and quill.

"Tell him where you are," he said, walking to me and placing them on the table in front of me.

"No," I replied simply.

His jaw flexed.

"You know I can make you," he threatened, and I bristled in fear and anger.

"Yes, but _you_ know that I'd rather die than endanger my family," I replied solemnly.

His fist flexed, and then he smiled. He picked up the parchment and with a flick of his wand, a note in my own hand began to appear,

_Uncle Harry,_

_I went to Malfoy Manor this morning, stupid I know, but Scorpius is free of the curse! It was Lucius who cast it and it broke when he passed away this morning. He's very confused and I think you should come and talk to him,_

_Hurry,_

_love Rosie_

"I also know your handwriting," he smiled.

If it wasn't being abused to trap my Uncle, I would have been a little moved by that, but instead my heart began to race faster in fear, "how did you know all that?" I asked.

"The mirror," he replied, and my heart sank. It was on my bedside table, he must have used it to eavesdrop on our conversation, "and your turning up here could only have been in hope that it was Lucius who cast the curse, an obvious jump in logic. I expected better of you," he scorned.

Annoyance rose in me, "So Narcissa?" I asked, as he folded up the fake letter and headed for the door.

"Nope," was all he said as the door shut behind him, and I was descended into darkness once more.

Fear began to override me again in the dark as I processed this. There was someone else in the house. And I needed to get out, before Harry arrived.

I stood slowly, feeling my way along the table, and picked up the chair Scorpius had been sitting on. It was heavy. Dragging it behind me, I used my free hand to feel for the wall. I soon found it, and set the chair down beside me, feeling for my proximity to the door. I positioned myself an appropriate distance to the side of it, and waited, listening patiently, concentrating on my breathing as a distraction to the darkness.

It wasn't long before I heard footsteps approach the door, and I lifted the chair to the side of me, and as the door opened, I swung it as hard as I freaking could into the person who walked through it. It made a nice sickening crunch, and the person crumpled to the floor, and in the light of the door I saw their wand rattle away and grabbed it, pointing it at them. It was Bethany Twycross.

She stirred in pain and I quickly stunned her. What an earth was she doing here? I thought wildly, and then my thoughts scattered back to Knockturn alley, and that blank, shocked expression she'd worn when I caught them. Scorpius had imperiused her too. But why?

I dragged her into the room by her feet, and left quickly, locking the door behind me.

On the other side of the door I was faced with a set of steep steps, and I made my way up them, my back to the wall, and Bethany's wand raised in front of me.

I don't know why I didn't get into Gryffindor house, because let's face it, I was being bloody brave.

The stairs opened to a shadowy passageway, and I paused, hearing voices up ahead.

"The notes sent, he'll arrive soon master," but no reply came.

On the other side of the room, the main door stood ajar, and I could see Scorpius stood before the fire place in the drawing room, seemingly alone. It looked like this was a concealed passageway.

With it being my only hope, I tapped myself on the head with Bethany's wand, and the horrible sensation of a raw egg being broken and running down my face in cold tendrils worked its way down my body, until I resembled something like a human chameleon. It wasn't like being invisible, if you moved too quickly or drew attention to yourself, you could notice the distortion of a person merely coloured as their background.

With a wordless flick of the wand, I caused the door across the room to snap shut, and Scorpius spun round to look at it, giving me a chance to slip out into the room. Moving as quietly as possible to crouch behind a chair, he then moved toward the door, and I crept further round the room, heading for the door myself. When he reached the door, I flicked the wand once more and it flung open, crushing him into the wall, and I rushed through the opening into the foyer, pushing myself against the wall, but found the front door was blocked, by Imogen Snow.

I froze in shock and caution not to alert her to my presence, and I began to wonder just how many people had been imperiused.

Scorpius burst into the foyer, a hand to his head and looked round wildly. I kept as still as possible and he didn't seem to notice me, "Secure the exits," he called out, and two more interns appeared, Peri and Nym, who moved to flank Imogen. He then rushed back into the drawing room, and I heard him crash through the passageway to check on me. I needed to hide, but I feared any movement would reveal my presence.

I looked around and noticed a large tapestry above the door, "Diffindo" I muttered quietly, and with a huge rip which caused all three of them to look up, the heavy tapestry fell on top of them. With this distraction I moved away from the wall and quickly into an alcove underneath the stairs. It would be pointless to attempt to escape. They were still blocking the door, and with the long stately path to run down, they would easily catch me. It suddenly occurred to me that my use of magic should have alerted the ministry through my trace, perhaps they would send officials if I did something grand enough? Whilst the girls were still struggling with the tapestry, I moved away from the stairs to the corner, and pointing my wand back towards it, yelled "_Bombarda Maxima_" as Scorpius and Bethany came rushing into the foyer.

The stone staircase exploded with great force, and I cast a shield charm to protect myself as the others were thrown backwards with the force of it. I then slipped back into the drawing room in the confusion, and slid myself into the gap behind the door, praying that I had caused enough havoc to summon aid.

"Find her," I heard Scorpius hiss, and they moved off into the house, none coming back to check the drawing room. Perhaps I could slip out through the window?

I moved quickly toward it, but just as I was about to reach it, it pushed slowly open. I stood still and watched as a mottled figure, disillusioned as I was, slipped into the room, followed by another.

"Man this room Teddy," whispered a familiar voice.

"Dad?" I whispered in sheer relief, and both the men jumped.

"Rose?" he replied.

"I'm disillusioned," I whispered quickly.

"Oh," he replied in shock, "good girl!"

I smiled in spite of myself, "Scorpius has imperiused some of the other interns, I don't know how many."

I think he nodded, "Stay here with Teddy, we'll take care of it," he said, and moved off toward the door of the drawing room.

"Who's we?" I asked Teddy.

"Harry, Al, and a couple more Aurors, Finnegan and Thomas," he replied.

"How did you know it was dangerous?" I asked.

"We picked up your use of magic on the Knight Bus, found out where you were headed, I've been lingering outside since then. Then after you used a stunning spell we knew things were taking a turn for the worse, so I called in the reinforcements. Why'd you blow up the stairs?"

"To get the Ministry's attention, but apparently it only took the conjuring of some flowers to do it," I mused, a little embarrassed.

"Clear!" called a voice loudly from the Foyer, and Teddy lifted his disillusionment, signalling me to follow, and I lifted my own enchantment.

In the foyer, Peri, Nym and Imogen were all unconscious at the front door, as was Bethany by the foot of the stairs. Scorpius was still awake, and armed, backed into a corner by Harry, Al, Seamus and Dean. I sighed with relief.

"Pretty pitiful attempt, Malfoy," said my Dad as he came in from checking another room, "this really it?"

And then Scorpius smiled.

The air ripped apart with loud cracks, and as each new face appeared, everything fell into place.

Scorpius moving from group to group.

Imogen throwing a huge party.

Bethany pulling boys into bedrooms.

This was only the tip of the iceberg.

What Scorpius had been doing the past week, was building a small army to take down my Uncle.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**AN: See, look at all the things I've been orchestrating under the cover of teenage angst! Oh the cleverness of me! Please please REVIEW!  
**


	12. Scorpius, please!

**Scorpius, please!  
**

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**POV: Rose**

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**WARNING: Rose uses a few strong words in this chapter, but for good reasons!**

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The foyer lit with spells, and we moved into an immediate defensive position, closing ranks to form a circle within the middle of the room as we fended off the dizzying amount of attacks.

We were overwhelmingly outnumbered, and I could barely protect myself from the onslaught.

There was no way we were going to get out of here alive.

"It's about to get wet," I heard Harry yell, and suddenly, a huge torrent of water came rushing down from upstairs at his command, swarming round the sides of the room and leaving our circular space clear. Dad then caused the front doors to burst open and the water swarmed outside, taking many of the attackers with its brutal current.

Seamus and Dean, at Harry's signal, then rushed outside in the tide's wake to continuing battling the interns and party-goers outside.

Aghast at this amazing display of powerful magic and flawless teamwork, my chest swelled with pride and confidence, and I managed to send a few stunning spells at the spluttering remainders before they began to fight again. Backing my way toward the drawing room, I began duelling fiercely with three wet interns, until suddenly an arm closed around my stomach, pulling me back into the drawing room. I was thrown painfully to the floor and I heard the door slam closed as my father yelled my name.

"_Expelliarmus_," Scorpius panted, catching Bethany's wand deftly as it flew out of my hand and toward him.

He was soaked through like the others, and had a large gash on his cheek. He locked the door, and then it exploded into bangs from the other side as my father shouted my name from the other side.

"Drop your weapons or she dies!" Scorpius yelled, pointing a wand at my heart.

"Come off it Malfoy, you won't kill her," my dad's muffled voice replied, "Oh Shi…" he then said, and I heard the renewed yell of voices, as a fresh attack caused my father to move away and defend himself.

In this moment of distraction, I launched myself at Scorpius, rugby tackling him to the floor and sending the two wands flying in different directions.

Struggling away from each other, we both rushed to grab a different wand, him to his own and me to Bethany's. I crawled desperately over to it, closed my hand round it and spun round to find Scorpius in the same position, pointing his at me. We both got to our feet slowly, waiting anxiously for someone to make the first move, when suddenly something black and feathery flew up into my face and past me, and I felt the wand go flying out of my hand once more.

"Bloody loyal pet to the Malfoy's isn't he," I yelled, eyeing the bird with anger as it settled on the back of the chair as it did before.

"Oh, he's not loyal to Malfoy's," Scorpius said, smiling, "he's loyal to those who wish to avenge the dark lord, or at least, those who are helping _him_ avenge the dark lord," he laughed.

"Helping him…?" I replied, looking back at the bird, but with a scream of shock I acknowledged that he was no longer there, instead within the chair sat a man. A man with hard, blunt features, and an unpleasant smile.

"Take a seat," he said, motioning to the seat opposite with his wand.

Casting a look back at Scorpius' sneering face, I reluctantly obliged.

"No reason for our hostage to be uncomfortable, now is there Scorpius?" the man chuckled.

"No master," replied Scorpius, moving into position to protect the door, now that the man had his wand pointed securely at me.

My thoughts filled with possibilities for escape, but there were none. Unless I could break the spell on Scorpius? But how? The only way I could do it forcefully would be to kill the man. I could hear the duelling growing outside the door, and it sounded as if our side was struggling, and panic flooded my system.

I needed to help, in any way I could.

More thoughts flowed off my original train. If I broke the curse on Scorpius, then it would surely have a domino effect on the rest of the attackers, freeing them too? But how? Could I kill someone to save my family? Even if I could I was wandless… unless…

"Who are you?" I asked stubbornly.

"Yaxley's the name, Miss Weasley," he replied, smiling.

"Yaxley," I confirmed, "well, this explains how you escaped after the war. An unregistered Animagus who can turn into a common crow, useful to slip away unnoticed."

"Indeed," he replied, relaxing into his chair as the battle raged outside.

"So have you been living as the Malfoy's _pet_ all this time?" I asked, injecting some scorn into my voice.

His smile faltered a little in annoyance, "I have been _hiding_ here, for many years, yes."

"Oh, _hiding_. Tell me, were they good owners?"

He flexed a little more in annoyance.

"Treat you well? Feed you worms when you were good and spray you with a water bottle when you were bad?" I laughed cruelly.

"Are you deliberately trying to piss me off Miss Weasley?" he asked, no longer smiling.

Yes.

"It's just funny how you cowered here like a little girl for over twenty-five years, only to launch a pitiful attempt to kill my Uncle, and like a fucking pansy you aren't even out there helping," his fist clenched, "why didn't you just leave the country, go live in Barbados, get a new identity? How retarded do you have to be to stick around here and let kids do your dirty work?"

"Are you quite done?" he asked angrily.

"Not even close, you fucking twat," I spat.

With a flick of his wand a gash opened on my arm and I gasped with pain, but I'd been through worse.

"How about now?" he asked angrily.

"Nope, I didn't mention that you were an ugly piece of shit," and with another slash of his wand I was thrown out of the chair and onto the floor as he stood up. I cast a look over at Scorpius, whose wand arm was shaking.

Come on Scorpius, I thought desperately.

Yaxley then grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up, bending down to whisper in my ear, "I hear you're a fan of the Cruciatus curse?" and I seized up with fear.

Scorpius banged into the wall beside me.

"No," I whispered pleadingly, the last of my bravery left me suddenly.

"Obviously Dolohov left you with a taste for punishment," he laughed, standing over me.

"Scorpius!" I yelled at him, desperate for my plan to have worked, but Scorpius was no longer shaking,

"Perhaps he would like to do the honours?" Yaxley said joyfully, throwing himself back down into his chair to watch, and with a flick of his wand he sent his wordless orders to Scorpius, who turned to face me.

"No," I cried desperately, "No, no, please Scorpius no, please don't, not again," I sobbed, "not again…"

"Do it," Yaxley commanded.

He raised his wand toward me.

"NO!" I screamed, "Scorpius, please!" he couldn't, he wouldn't hurt me…

I heard my father scream my name again, with renewed bangs on the door.

"Dad!" I screamed, "Scorpius please! I love you!" no… no, no, no… please no…

He cleared his throat, and I threw my hands over my head, as if it would stop the pain coming.

"_Stupefy!_" he yelled, and a burst of red light shot past me, and I heard a series of loud thuds to my right.

Looking up cautiously, I saw Yaxley had toppled over in the chair, and was sprawled unconscious on the floor, and I broke into fresh sobs of relief as Scorpius' arms engulfed me fiercely.

"Oh Rose, I'm so sorry," he also sobbed, hugging me more tightly, and I sobbed even harder.

Suddenly there was a bang from behind us.

"Get away from her now," my father yelled, and Scorpius sprang away from me, tripping over Yaxley's legs.

"D-d-dad," I stammered, "it's o-o-okay," I tried as he moved toward me, "he-e-e's back," I managed before being overtaken by sobs once more.

"Bloody hell," my Dad said, pausing bluntly to look at Scorpius, noticing who he'd tripped over, "Harry," he yelled, "it's Yaxley!"

Uncle Harry then came into the room, closely followed by Teddy and for some reason, Draco Malfoy.

"Scorpius," he said, moving over to his son and helping him up, assessing the gash on his cheek.

"I'm fine Dad," he mumbled, "Rose is worse, please, her arm…"

I'd forgotten about that, and looked down, almost surprised to see it gushing with blood. My father moved again toward me hurriedly, his face pale, but Mr Malfoy pushed past him with a doctor's "let me through," and picked my arm up gently, raising his wand over it and whispering incantations until it slowly closed up with a tingling, burning sensation, leaving a long, white scar.

"Thank you," I whispered gratefully, and he nodded, returning to his son to do the same.

My father then threw his arms round me and crushed me to his chest, kissing the top of my head forcefully.

"Oh Rosie, I was so scared," he whispered, "it was your mother all over again…"

And then I remembered that this was where it had happened, where my mother had got her scars. In this very room.

I crushed myself further into his embrace, and began to sob again, "I want to go home, Dad," I said.

And I felt him nod against my head.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: Oh please do Review!  
**


	13. It's because I'm innately evil

**It's because I'm innately evil**

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**POV: Scorpius**

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"It was, really, really… just… not being in control… of your own body… your own thoughts… and… barely even aware… that you weren't in control…" I paused, unable to put my experience into words, shaking my head.

On the opposite side of the table, Mr Potter nodded.

"I understand," he said, "now tell me about the night of the party. Your first breakthrough."

I furrowed my forehead, trying to recall the memories of that night. Trying to decipher my thoughts, and translate them into words.

"The party was for recruitment. I tempted a girl into the garden, cursed her, and then someone came out from the back door. I ordered the girl to hide. I leant against the tree, and saw Rose, coming toward me. She looked… beautiful. The closer she came, the more my head cleared. The sensation of the curse… it's like… a cloud. A fog. We exchanged words, and she leaned into me, and, I guess some of my baser instincts took control. The thoughts inside my head became disjointed… it was like… a lightbulb…? Flickering on and off? And then my head began to fill with voices. Some told me to stop because I was going too far… some told me to keep going because I wanted to… some told me to stop because she was a… a mud… some weren't even considering her, only the way my body felt. And my body? Well… I'd lost complete control of that. Then she started speaking. She started telling me to stop, and… a stronger voice inside me started to tell me to stop… her voice in my head… and for a split second I saw the situation with… brutal clarity. And I tried to move myself away, whilst the other half of me moved in closer, and in the struggle I lost myself again, I suppose. Slipped back under the cloud…" I trailed off.

There was a small silence, filled with the scratching of a quill as it finished copying down my words. Eventually it paused for the next question, and Mr Potter continued.

"And tonight?" he asked.

"It was quicker this time. I began to acknowledge myself a little when Rose was provoking Yaxley. Part of me was fearful for his reaction, part of me was fearful for her, but the biggest part, just found it really funny. That one started to take over a little. But when he opened up her arm, it shocked me. On every level. And it was like… the two contrasting emotions… the amusement and then sudden shock… it was like it ripped open a hole in the cloud for me to watch through. And I felt completely lucid. But I could only watch through this… window… I still wasn't in control of my body. Then he threw her to the floor… and I started trying to give my body commands. Move your arm. Move your leg. Move your head. Speak. Shout. Turn. Anything… then when he threatened her with that curse. That was it. Every single thought in my head just said 'No'. My body, my mind, my very core, knew that I couldn't survive listening to her screams once more… let alone watch it. And with that sudden… acknowledgement… it just… broke."

I paused.

"Then… he told _me_ to do it. I could have jumped on him right there and then, and beaten the crap out of him, but he still had his wand. So I followed through, turned to her, and she was… begging me…" I stopped, a small sob building in my chest and a lump blocking my throat, "I raised my wand at her, and he flung himself down in the chair. To _watch_. So the moment he lowered his wand, I stunned him."

I leant forward in my chair as Rose's face filled my mind. Petrified, pleading, and I broke down.

"Could we have a moment, Potter?" my father said quietly from the seat beside me.

Mr Potter obviously agreed, and I heard his chair scrape back and the door close gently behind me.

My father put an awkward hand on my back, and lightly tapped it.

"I can't believe I was a part of that, Dad," I cried out in anger, looking at his lined and sympathetically awkward face, "I feel so weak!" I shouted, "I mean why me? It's just the fucking Malfoy blood to be involved in these things, isn't it? I can't escape it! Can I?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it.

"What if I hadn't come out of it, Dad? What if I had done that to her? What if they'd killed Mr Potter? A man who's, _always_ accepted me, and treated me with such, great kindness, and paid for me to come to Quidditch matches with his family, and spend Christmas with them, and befriend his son, and I try _so_ hard to be a good person, Dad, but I can't escape it! It's like it's against nature for me to be good! Why couldn't I stop myself before, Dad? I know. It's because I'm innately evil. It's like my body thrived on finally having the right mind to control it and succumbed just like that," I clicked my fingers.

Angry tears were burning down my face, and I realised I was now on my feet, and the weight of my guilt and fear felt like it was crushing me. I leant against the wall and tried to breathe, but it wouldn't go away. I sunk down to the floor, sinking under the weight of my anger.

I felt hands close roughly around my arms, and pull me up aggressively. I opened my eyes to look at my father, and then he hit me hard across the face.

"Now you listen to me Scorpius," he hissed angrily, grabbing my face to look at him, "You, are a good man," he spoke firmly, "it does not make you weak to succumb to the Imperius curse. That's what it's designed for. But it takes strength to fight it off Scorpius, and you did! You stood there with the option of right and wrong, with wrong forcing you to its will, and you chose right! I didn't do that!" he cried, "I watched a woman die, and I didn't do anything to stop it! If that were you, you would have stood up. You would have died just to say 'no stop, stop this!'" he began to cry also, "and when the girl you loved, was about to be tortured, you stopped it! You didn't stand, and watch like a coward as the girl you loved screamed and writhed in front of your very eyes. You didn't watch impotently as the very word that kept you from admitting your love was carved into her arm! So don't talk to me about innate evil, Scorpius, when you're the one that did the right thing!" and with that, he gave me one last long look, let go of my arms abruptly, and swept off toward the door, then paused with his hand on the handle,

"_You_, are a good man Scorpius."

And then he left.

I stood for a long time, blank and emotionless, until Mr Potter returned.

He sat back at the table, and motioned for me to rejoin him.

I made my way heavily over, and dumped myself back into the chair.

"Here," he said, from his pocket producing a small bar of chocolate, and sliding it towards me, "for the shock," he smiled.

I picked it up politely, but didn't open it.

"Mr Potter?"

"Yes?"

"I know I probably don't have the right to ask this of you, but I was wondering if you could help me with something."

And to my surprise, he said, "Of course. What do you need?"

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN:** **Yep. That's right. I slipped in a little bit of Dramione.**


	14. I have no idea where to start

**I have no idea where to start**

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**POV: Rose**

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"Rose," my mother called up the stairs.

"Yes!" I groaned, rolling onto my back.

"Could you come down here please?"

I grumbled, burying my face into my pillow as if it would change her mind.

A few short weeks had passed since the showdown at Malfoy Manor, and though I was feeling mostly recovered by now, I had spent most of the time in the comfortable solitude of my room, and was now left resenting any reason at having to leave it.

Scorpius and I had yet to speak since it happened.

About three days afterwards, I woke to a gentle tapping at my window and my heart leapt when I saw my beloved eagle owl Horus on the other side. I eagerly opened it and he soared in joyfully, dropping an envelope onto my bed and settling onto my desk so that I could gently stroke him. I looked over to the letter, on which my name 'Rose' shone in Scorpius' handwriting, and I dived for it,

'_Dear Rose', _it read_,_

_I have no idea where to start. _

_I desperately want to apologise for my behaviour, but, that doesn't make sense, does it? Because it wasn't me? And I hope that you understand that. And I also want you to know that I would never hurt you, and I would never pressure you, in any way. _

_So I guess I just wanted you to know that, because I won't be around for a bit._

_ I just need some time to get my head straight. _

_When I'm back, I'll understand if things are too weird for us now, so don't feel guilty if you don't want to be with me, or even if you don't want to see me, okay? _

_Just let me know. _

_Scorpius_

I had wondered how it would feel when I heard from him. Whether it would, as he said, be too weird, or perhaps I wouldn't feel the same, but the resounding feeling I was left with when I finished that letter, was disappointment that he hadn't put '_love_'.

I flopped back down onto the bed, and read the letter three more times, until finally I returned it to its envelope for safety. Then suddenly, I noticed a flash of lettering on the back of the envelope, which gleamed and disappeared like a hologram as I tilted in back and forth in the light. And the message read:

"_I still love you. And always will_."

Sitting up in bed, I ran my fingers over that message now, softly, and then headed for my bedroom door, padding softly down the stairs to find my mother.

As I turned the corner and headed for the kitchen, I froze.

Because he was there.

Sitting at my kitchen table.

With my father.

I looked back behind me to check that I was in the right house, and slowly made my way down the hall, pausing in the doorway.

My mother was leant against the side, smiling knowingly at me, and I wondered what it was she knew that I didn't.

I turned to look at Scorpius.

"Hi," was all I could manage.

"Hi," he breathed back, assessing my face anxiously.

After a long time of staring at each other meaningfully, my father cleared his throat uncomfortably,

"Sit down will you Rosie," he said.

I didn't move.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Dad shifted awkwardly in his seat, "Well, Malfoy here," I narrowed my eyes, "I mean _Scorpius_," he said apologetically, "has come to ask me," Mum coughed, "I mean _us_," he sighed, "for his blessing. To date you that is," he added quickly, as if not wanting to give us any ideas.

I widened my eyes.

"And, I've given it a lot of thought, a lot… lot of thought, and… I can't see any reason that I can say no," he said, a little begrudgingly.

My heart beat loudly in my ears, and a slow grin began to overtake my face. I looked instantly at Scorpius, and his face mirrored mine by half a second, in reaction.

"Look," Dad said, eyes moving between the both of us, "I'm not saying that this whole thing won't make me uncomfortable, and that it won't take me a little while to get used to it, but, I unfortunately can't deny the fact that… he wouldn't hurt you, Rosie, and really," he sighed in defeat, "that's all a father can ask for."

Although the entire thing with dripping with unabashed resentment, with a slight tear in my eye, I moved over and embraced my father tightly, kissing him on the top of the head and whispered, "_thank you_."

He coughed awkwardly again, and when I let go he stood up and looked at my mother, who looked a little emotional too.

"Right," she said, moving to her husband and kissing him briefly on the cheek, "we're going to join Hugo at the Potter's for dinner. I'm sure you two need some time to talk, so just join us when you're ready okay?" she said.

I nodded in disbelief, and my father opened his mouth to say something, but then resolutely turned on his heel, and headed out of the house, probably fighting the urge to strangle Scorpius.

"See you in a bit, darling," Mum said, squeezing my hand gently as she passed.

I locked my eyes onto Scorpius' as I listened to Mum's receeding footsteps, my gaze burning into him with the desperation to be alone.

The moment I heard the faint pop of their apparition, I moved toward him as if an invisible barrier had been broken between us, grasping his face in my hands whilst he was only halfway out of his chair, and catching his lips in my mine forcefully.

The sheer relief and pleasure of being able to kiss him again washed through me like a happy drug, and I moved my lips hungrily against his, as he wrapped his arms tightly around me, pullinh me closer.

Eventually he let out a long, contented sigh, and broke apart from me to rest his head against my forehead,

"I love you," he breathed,

"I love you too," I countered, and we smiled gratefully at the completion of our reunion.

"Come on," I said, slipping my hand into his, and I pulled him out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and into my bedroom.

And this time, when we fell onto my bed with teenage passion, there were no interruptions from my father, and there was absolutely nothing holding me back.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: One more chapter to go, which I intend to make both fluffy and comic. Please, please review!**


	15. That's my girl

**That's my girl**

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**POV: Scorpius**

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I moved my way out into the garden, and the dying sun was still warm, the air filled with the smell of a summer's evening.

I scanned the crowd of Rose's family and friends, looking for the glint of her auburn hair, but seriously, you try picking out a redhead at a Weasley party.

Eventually I spotted her sitting on her own by the Burrow's pond, lazily drifting her outstretched leg back and forth across the surface of the water, leaning back against her arms as she angled her face up into the sun.

My chest filled with contentment, and I made my way over to her, pushing her sharply forwards when I reached her, barking, "Don't fall in!"

She let out a squeal and hit me across the leg as soon as I set her back straight, smiling brilliantly at me as she settled back down, wrapping her arms round her knees to look back out toward the setting sun.

I sat down, placing a leg either side of her, and wrapped my arms round both her and her knees, resting my head on her shoulder.

"Where's my present," she said precociously.

"Present? What present? It's not like it's your birthday or anything," I replied.

"But it _is_ my birthday," she moaned.

"I don't believe you," I mocked.

"Fine. Now where's my present?"

"Look, even if it is your birthday, what makes you think I would even get you anything?"

"Because you _love _me," she replied childishly.

"Fine," I said, defeated, "I got you this," and from my pocket I retrieved the gift, and dangled it in front of her.

It was a small, silver charm bracelet. And on it hung a silver rose, a scorpion, a broom, a witch's hat, and a bronze eagle. I'd manage to avoid putting a heart on it. Even I would have punched myself in the face for being that much of a pansy.

She didn't say anything, but lifted her hand up , trailing her fingers slowly underneath each charm to look at it, then she presented her wrist, and swivelled her neck round to look at me expectantly.

I grinned, and with some difficulty on the fiddly clasp, managed to undo and re-attach it round her wrist.

"Thank you," she whispered, "it's perfect."

I could tell she felt a little bit embarrassed, and to be honest, I did too, so we remained silent, and I held her just that little bit tighter, kissing her firmly on the cheek.

I felt her grin beneath my lips, and she turned her head to kiss me, still grinning.

"Rose, put the boy down and come and join the party," yelled a voice, and to my horror it was her grandmother. I hastily stood up, brushing my trousers off in awkwardness.

Rose picked up my hand and dragged me into the festivities, before she was swept away by her Uncle George, who insisted it was a tradition on every Weasley girl's seventeenth birthday, to partake in the chicken dance.

I was laughing so hard that I hadn't even noticed Albus standing beside me, and my hilarity quickly decreased as I caught his eye. I swallowed hard, the atmosphere rife with discomfort.

"So," I said, "boomerangs. I hear they're making a comeback."

And to my relief, he cracked up, grabbing my hand in a firm handshake and said "Welcome back man, I missed you."

"Yeah, sorry I haven't been around. Did I miss much? With you I mean?" I asked cautiously.

"Not really. Things are good with Rowan. Really good," he added, with a sly smile.

"Oh," I said, immediately understanding, "nice!" and I held my fist out for him to bump, "yeah me and… uh…" I began without thinking, then trailed off with a huge cough,

"Wait what?" he said quickly,

"Nothing," I said, still pretending to cough, "got something in my throat," I coughed harder, "should really go… get some water…" I coughed out, trying to escape.

"She's like my sister!" he called after me angrily, and I shrugged and coughed in response, heading for the kitchen as quickly as possible.

"Oh, Malfoy," a voice slurred behind me, and I turned to find Mr Weasley, being propped up by his sister Ginny,

"His name's Scorpius, Ronald," she hissed angrily,

"I know, I know, shh," he said, "but I'm sorry, I can't say it, it's the most ridiculous name I've ever…"

"Ron!" Ginny cried.

"No, don't worry Mrs Potter, it really is a stupid name," I agreed.

"See," slurred Mr Weasley, "and fair do's, Malfoy's a pretty stupid name too…" he added.

"Oh, don't worry Sir," I said, "when I marry Rose, I'll take your surname," and then I ducked back out of the door quickly, stifling a laugh.

"Not pissing off Ron on purpose are you," said a voice from behind me, and I turned to find Mr Potter sat lazily on a bench against the back wall.

"Oh, no sir, just a little joke," I said uncomfortably, "couldn't resist," I added, knowing I'd been caught.

But Mr Potter just smiled, and offered the seat next to him along with a bottle of butterbeer, "It was funny," he admitted.

I smiled and sat down, "Sorry. I know I shouldn't be doing anything to aggravate him, seeing as it's taken you so long to persuade him to back off," I said, feeling awful.

"You can't be perfect," he said, "And I only let that slide because I don't think you were joking," he added, and I coughed and spluttered on the mouthful of butterbeer I'd just taken.

He laughed and patted me on the back, "listen. I just wanted to say. I've been really impressed with you in our sessions, in fact, I've been impressed with you since your lessons with me at Hogwarts, and at the Shrieking Shack," I felt the colour rise in my face, and a surge of pride swell in my chest, "and if you're sincerely interested, there'll definitely be a place for you on the Auror program when you finish Hogwarts."

I widened my eyes, "T-thank you, Mr Potter, sir," I stammered, "Thank you, I… I really appreciate that, thank you."

"No problem," he replied, smiling, and he shook my hand firmly before he heaved himself up to rejoin the party.

I sat there for a long second and watched him leave in disbelief, when someone slumped down beside me.

"What sessions?" Rose asked curiously.

I looked over at her, "I've just been offered an unconditional place on the Auror training program when I graduate, and that's all you take out of that conversation?" I ask.

"Okay… Congratulations!" she cheers, leaning in to kiss me briefly, "now tell me about the sessions," she demands.

I sigh, "Ever since the uh… incident," I cover politely, "I asked Mr Potter if he could teach me how to fight the Imperius Curse."

She raised her eyebrows,

"And to talk to your Dad for me."

She smiled, "Ah, I knew there must have been some magic behind the scenes with that one."

I nodded, looking down as the shame of my forced actions lingered over me a little.

Softly, Rose lifted up my face to look at her and said, "I'm so proud of you. For learning to fight the curse," and then she kissed me deeply, stroking my cheek gently with her thumb. Then her hand drifted slowly down my chest, and grabbed my tie forcefully, pulling me towards her, and she whispered, "want to spend some time alone with me in the broom shed?"

My blood very quickly began pounding in my ears as it rushed to a singular area of my body, and I gulped hard as I nodded.

She grinned wickedly, standing up and dragging me off by the hand, just as she had done at her house.

I quickly looked behind us to check no one had noticed us slipping off into the darkness, and saw Albus looking at me furiously from over Rowan's shoulder on the dance floor. He motioned at me, and then drew a hand across his neck threateningly, and I grinned back,

"Wave to Albus, Rosie," I said, and she turned and looked, giggling at the look of sibling-like fury on his face, and waved, then slapped my ass for good measure, causing Albus' face to turn murderous as he flipped us both the finger.

I laughed loudly and slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her close to me so I could kiss the side of her head.

That's my girl, I thought.

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**AN: THE END! Thank you so much to all the people who have read my story, and particularly those that take the time to review, it is so deeply appreciated. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and that I provided enough fluff for those that requested it! I think that this will be it for this story for a while, but I won't rule out the potential of a threequel, only because I realised that my first one was about the Cruciatus curse, the second about the Imperius curse, and I could always complete the set with that big bad green one! Let me know your level of interest!**

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**NEW STORY:  
**

**I have started working on a new story, which is a result of my desperate Harry Potter depression now that it's all over. It's basically going to be about what my and my groups of friend's last year at Hogwarts would be like, in a overly comic fashion. I've just been desperate to write something primarily funny, and this seems a nice light-hearted way to do it! So I thought I'd give you a small extract, with the funniest scene I've written so far. **

**To set the scene, this story is set in Harry Potter Prisoner of Azaban, but is meant to be my friends and I's final year at Hogwarts. You'll recognise the names I use: Imogen Snow, Bethany Twycross, Peri Poliakoff, and Nymphadora (Nym, now Dora by request) Dobbs, which are names I got from putting our real names into a Harry Potter name generator about a month ago for fun, then obviously slipped them into my Rose/Scorpius story!**

**So here you go, I hope you appreciate this!**

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"I dare you, to go and talk to Oliver Wood," smiled Bethany wickedly.

Okay, I know I have a crush on the guy, but come on, it's not like I'm scared to have a conversation with him.

"That's it?" I reply, confused.

"Nope," she smiles, "I want you to have a conversation about quidditch, in which the word broom, actually means penis."

I sprayed back out the sip of drink I'd just taken, and choked on it a little for good measure, as Peri and Dora collapse into nervous giggles beside me.

"Oh…" I finally cough out, looking back at Bethany as her eyes glint with mischief, and decided "this will be interesting." I downed the rest of my drink, stood up, and moved into the throng to look for him.

I soon found him lingering in the corner, with none other than Fred and George Weasley, running through beater tactics for the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match.

"Hi," I cough nervously, nonchalantly trying to join the conversation.

"Oh, hey Snow," he said, looking only briefly at me for a second before continuing his animated discussion.

Ouch.

I could see the Weasley's eyes glazing over as they listened to him,

"So if you guys just beat the bludger back and forth between you, whilst I…"

"So," I cleared my throat "Wood… I hear you have the best broom on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team?"

Behind me I hear the stifled giggles of my friends, obviously having positioned themselves within earshot.

Wood looks at me, in slight confusion at my interruption, whilst the Weasley's eye me with interest.

"I wouldn't say the best…" he replied, "but certainly the most powerful."

"Oh," I said, trying to maintain my seriousness, and glancing back at the girls, "I see. I've also heard it's the biggest, you know, length wise?"

"I wouldn't say so, I mean, compared to Fred and George's, it's relatively small," he answers in some confusion.

I bit my lip at this, but I knew the amusement was lighting my face, and a fresh peal of laughter rang out from behind me. The Weasley's looked like they were twigging onto my real meaning.

"So, do you often compare broom lengths?" I said, shooting the twins a sideways glance, confirming the joke to which they started to snigger, and Wood began to look more perplexed, eyeing the girls over my shoulder nervously.

"Not really… but just because it's slightly smaller doesn't mean it reduces my performance in any way. I think it's because I take good care of it, you know, keeping it trimmed, and I polish it most nights," he said proudly.

"Really… most nights," I say, seriously struggling to contain my laughter, which is bubbling out a little, whereas the girls are bent double and I think George is crying into Fred's shoulder, who's looking up in earnest effort to keep from laughing, "and of course, it's not really the size is it, it's what you do with it," I say.

"Of course," he says, turning toward me, evidently getting into the conversation, his eyes lighting up like they do when he talks about quidditch, "and, I don't mean to brag but, I know what I'm doing with a broom. And it's not just about skill, it's about the way it feels and even down to the way you hold it, you know, the position of your hands?" Fred's knees gave out beside him and he has to turn his face away to hide his laughter, and Wood glances suspiciously at him before returning his attention to me, "I even find if you squeeze it a little, it goes that much faster," and to this we all lost it. Bethany was on the floor and I had to shove my knuckle into my mouth as Wood looked back and forth between us, obviously wondering what on earth was so funny, then he looked at me, "we're not talking about brooms are we?" he asked, folding his arms.

I slowly shook my head, eyes streaming.

He narrowed his eyes at me for a second and then said, moving his hands to his pockets, "Well in that case, I'd like to confirm that I do have the best and biggest broom on the Gryffindor quidditch team," he glanced back at the twins, to which George opened his mouth to argue and Fred said "Hey!", and then he leaned in to pointedly add, "and I definitely know what I'm doing with it."

And with that, he winked at the girls behind me and moved off into the party, looking back only once to smile at the bemused look on my face.

I looked back at the girls whose eyebrows were all raised.

"Dude, did Oliver Wood just flirt with me?" I asked disbelievingly.

"I think he did," Bethany confirmed with a laugh.

Score.

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**If you liked this, subscribe to alerts from me as an Author, and you'll be first to know when and if I post the first chapter!** **Though I promise it's not all about sexual innuendoes...**


	16. New Story

**Yo readers!**

I've started posted my New Story as described at the end of the previous chapter!

It's called **"The Fellowship of the Pufflemouth"** (the name makes sense after one of my favourite moments in Chapter 12: Hogsmeade.)

**The summary:**

_Imogen Snow is about to embark on her last year at Hogwarts, but with the endless line of stupidity and insanity coming from her three best friends Beth, Peri and Dora, it'll be a wonder if she manages to catch Oliver Wood's eye at all, let alone a date._

**A few reviews so far:**

Jazzie x Jeopardy  
3/31/12 . chapter 8

Hahahaha this is absolutely hilarious ! I was actually in tears when I read the scene in the three broomsticks with the innuendo ! :L :D I love this soooo sooo much _UPDATE SOON_ I neeeeeddd more ! :D :D

darkhk  
4/6/12 . chapter 8

hey i just read this fic and it's hilarious! pls keep updating!

Nelle07  
4/10/12 . chapter 8

I just started reading your story and I love it! I cried so hard! I live alone so basically I was in my apartment (with thin walls) cracking up because of your story! _ I had to walk a way from my computer during the broom innuendos!

EvilMonkeyBabyD  
4/13/12 . chapter 11

My god I love this whole story please update or I may die, I have never laughed do much at a facfiction to date. It bloody priceless... I love you seriously :-)

zeek gaidin  
4/18/12 . chapter 11

I am very glad that my room mate is not here right now, because they would think I'm insane for how much this story has made me giggle! I shall now go find people to share this with :P

Good job!

Riter4ever  
4/22/12 . chapter 1

Ok so I'm not exactly sure how I ended up with this fanfiction. All I know is that I'm really really glad I did. I always IM my friends at night when my parents think I'm asleep and so I read your fanfic in between IMs. I laugh SO HARD! Claps to you for making one of the funniest fanfictions I've ever read. Please update! It'd make my day :)


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